Diagnostics of laser-induced spark discharges in air and vacuum

In the authors' work, they present the results of their studies of self-channeling processes generated by interaction of an intense laser pulse (10/sup 15/ W/cm/sup 2/) with metallic and double-layer targets both in gas atmosphere and in vacuum. They report about measurements of intense X-ray radiation, the evolution of the plasma density in laser-produced plasmas by means of pulsed interferometry and shadowgraphy and the evidence of fast ions generated in plasma channels, detected by means of a plastic nuclear track detector CR-39.