LASER PLASMA STUDIES USING A HIGH-POWER 249-NM KrF LASER.

Summary form only given. The authors report on experiments where a high-power single-beam KrF laser (Sprite) has been used to generate laser-produced plasmas. The 249-nm laser beam is focoused onto target at energies up to 120 J in 50 ns using a plano-convex fused silica lens giving a peak irradiance of 3 multiplied by 10**1 **3 W/cm**2 in a spot 200 mu m in diameter. Experiments to date have concentrated on measuring the properties of X-ray emission from various target materials including C, Al, Cl, Ta, W, Au and Bi. The present experiments have also given valuable operating experience with this short-wavelength gas laser and have contributed to the development of plasma and laser beam diagnostic equipment for KrF target studies.