Magnetic-field generation by pulsed irradiation of aluminium in air

Magnetic-field generation arising under irradiation of an aluminium barrier in the air by a series of laser pulses is studied experimentally. It is found that the magnetic field increases nonlinearly from 10^-5 to 10^-3 T with increasing laser power density from 10⁷ to 10⁹ W cm^-2, the degree of nonlinearity being different for single nanosecond pulses, for a series of such pulses with a repetition rate of 100–150 μs and for a combination of a millisecond laser pulse and a series of nanosecond laser pulses. The dependences of the magnetic-field induction on the power density of laser radiation in the above-mentioned regimes are established.