Parameters of a plasma formed by the action of microsecond laser pulses on an aluminum target in vacuum

The results are given of a numerical solution of the one-dimensional (plane) time-dependent radiative–gasdynamic problem of the action of laser radiation of wave lengths in the range 0.1–1 μ on an aluminum target in a vacuum. It is shown that the emission of thermal radiation originating in the ablation plasma lowers its temperature substantially. A considerable fraction of the incident laser energy (up to 30–40 %) is emitted into vacuum from a plasma jet in a spectrum which extends into the UV and vacuum UV regions.