Plasma produced by laser irradiation of solid targets as a source of highly stripped ions

The plasma produced from a solid target which is irradiated by an intense, pulsed laser beam is considered as a source of highly stripped ions. The populations of the various ions and their spatial distributions are deduced from emission spectroscopy. The most highly ionized atoms are located at the front of the plasma expanding away from the target and are followed later in time by lower stages of ionization. A separation of the ion stages in space and time can thus be effected. With the appropriate shaped Q-spoiled laser pulse, 10¹⁴ to 10¹⁶ ions can be produced with a mean charge state approaching +20. Potentially the laser-produced plasma is an attractive source of ions for heavy-ion accelerators.