Laser-produced plasma

Laser-produced plasma is ionized matter formed when intense laser light heats a target. It can arise from solids, gases, liquids, or droplets and emit radiation or energetic particles.

Laser ablation: Material removal caused by laser irradiation, through vaporization, ejection, or related processes. Ablation supplies expanding material that can become plasma when laser heating is strong enough.
Extreme ultraviolet lithography: A semiconductor patterning method that uses 13.5-nanometer light to print fine circuit features. Tin laser-produced plasma is a major source of the method’s extreme-ultraviolet radiation.
Plasma: A state of matter containing mobile charged particles and collective electromagnetic behavior. Laser-produced plasma is one way to create this broader state of matter.
Thermal plasma: A plasma in which electrons and heavier particles have approximately the same temperature. Laser-produced plasmas are often nonthermal, with electrons much hotter than ions.
Inverse bremsstrahlung: Plasma heating in which electrons absorb radiation while scattering from ions. This absorption mechanism transfers laser energy to electrons in many laser-produced plasmas.
Laser-plasma acceleration: Particle acceleration by electric fields generated in plasma waves driven by intense laser pulses. Laser-produced plasmas can sustain the strong fields used to accelerate charged particles.
Ionization: The formation of ions when atoms or molecules gain or lose electrons. Laser heating and strong fields strip electrons from the target’s atoms.
Arc discharge: An electrical discharge sustained by a hot, conducting channel between electrodes. It creates plasma through electrical current rather than laser energy deposited in a target.
Critical surface: The plasma region where the electron density reaches the critical density for a given electromagnetic wave frequency. Incident laser light is strongly reflected or absorbed near this density boundary.
Inertial confinement fusion: A fusion approach that compresses and heats a fuel capsule rapidly using intense energy pulses. Laser-generated x-rays or direct laser heating can drive the capsule implosion.

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Laboratory studies of space and astrophysical plasmasBroader topic: High-energy lasers create brief plasmas for studying astrophysical flows and radiation.