Dosimetric measurements of electron and photon yields from solid targets irradiated with 30 fs pulses from a 14 TW laser

A 14 TW Ti:Sa laser furnishing pulses with a duration of 30 fs (furl width at half maximum) at a repetition rate of 10 Hz was used to expose solid tar gets to intensities of up to 3 x 10(18) W/cm(2). Dosimetric techniques were employed to study the total x-ray yield, the spectral and angular distribu tion of the x-ny photons and the energy distribution of high-energy electro ns injected into the solid target and emitted into the vacuum. Scans of las er pulse energy and duration were carried out to study the dependence of th e x-ray generation efficiency on these parameters. The radiation transport processes in the target were modeled using the Monte Carlo method. The resu lts of these calculations were used to interpret the measurement results an d to critically discuss the applicability of dosimetric methods to the inve stigation of photon and electron emission from laser-produced plasmas.