Experimental equipment of the Laboratory

The Laboratory does research into the interaction of laser radiation with matter for purposes of laser thermonuclear fusion and generation of X-ray emission from laser plasma for technological and scientific tasks.  Experimental studies at the Laboratory are conducted at the PICO facility, which consists of two Nd lasers of the picosecond and nanosecond ranges, a target vacuum chamber and a diagnostic complex for measurements of laser radiation and plasma parameters. 

The target-diagnostic complex of the PICO Facility

The amplifying cascades of the picosecond laser (left); the nanosecond laser (right)

Lines of research by the Laboratory of Laser Plasma:

• experimental and theoretical research into the interaction of laser radiation with matter with the view to study the possibility of generating high-energy electrons and ions in plasma;
• modelling of physical processes in laser thermonuclear targets (absorption and reflection of laser radiation from the plasma of thin-walled targets, development of hydrodynamic instabilities in plasma, generation of X-ray radiation);
• studies of the possibilities of laser pulse profiling with the aim to symmetrize ablation pressure in plasma;
• studies of explosive emission of relativistic electrons from laser plasma;
• development of phase filters for enhancing laser radiation contrast;
• development of methods of exact synchronization of radiation pulses from nanosecond and picosecond lasers for conducting experiments on their combined effect on plasma;
• studies of the generation of rigid X-ray radiation in laser plasma.