Magnetic-Field Confinement of a Laser-Produced Plasma

Ruby-laser pulses have been focused onto planar targets of beryllium in a magnetic field,B=17 kG. The field was oriented parallel to the direction of the incoming laser beam and perpendicular to the target surface. It was balancing the kinetic pressure of the plasma at a few millimeters from the target. Spectroscopic observations, both time integrated and time resolved, have shown the magnetic-confinement effect. In particular, a reduction of the transverse plasma-plume size and a density increase and slower expansion, in the presence of the magnetic field, have been observed. In the introduction, a short review of the most recent papers on the subject is reported.