Optical diagnostics of laser-produced plasmas with ultra-short laser pulses

Abstract

In laser fusion experiments the interesting phenomena occur on a picosecond timescale. Short-pulse lasers in combination with high resolution optics offer a powerful diagnostic tool. After a short description of the principles and experimental techniques I discuss three specific areas of the laser-plasma interaction problem, namely heat transport in the corona of a laser heated pellet, density profile steepening by light pressure and the generation of magnetic fields.