Diagnostics of dense laser plasmas based on the spectra of hydrogen-like and helium-like multiply charged ions

An investigation was made of the spectra of Mg XI, Mg XII, Al XII, and Al XIII ions generated by laser radiation focused on solid targets. The relative intensities of the allowed and forbidden lines and of the lines beginning from self-ionized levels yielded the electron density (N_e ≈ 10²⁰ cm^–3) and temperature (kT_e ≈ 300 eV) of the radiating region. The method employed was suitable for the diagnostics of plasmas with N_e ≈ 10²³ cm^–3 provided the spectra of strongly ionized hydrogen-like and helium-like ions were observed.