Abstract

Laser light pulses with ultrahigh intensity (up to 10¹⁸ Watts / cm²) and ultrashort pulse duration (down to 100 femtoseconds) were focused on gaseous and solid samples. In gases, the result is highly ionized material with relatively cold electrons, along with the emission of coherent harmonics of the fundamental laser wavelength, x-rays from electron-ion recombination, and far infrared radiation from accelerated electrons. In solids, the result is highly ionized material with hot electrons, with emission of short bursts of intense x-rays.

© 1992 Optical Society of America