Measurements of ion energies from the explosion of large hydrogen iodide clusters irradiated by intense femtosecond laser guises

We present measurements of ion energies from the interaction of intense, fe mtosecond laser pulses with large mixed-species clusters. Multi-keV protons and similar to 100-keV iodine ions are observed from the explosion of HI c lusters produced in a gas jet operated at room temperature. Clusters formed from molecular gases such as HI are thus seen to extend the advantages of the laser-cluster interaction to elements that do not readily form single-s pecies clusters. In the light of recently reported nuclear fusion in laser- heated clusters, we also examine the possibility of boosting the explosion energies of low-Z ions through the use of mixed species clusters. [S1050-29 47(99)03310-7].