Plasma heating by short laser pulses is investigated theoretically. Gain coefficients of 3… 4 cm−1 at the Balmer α transition in carbon could be obtained. The theoretical results agree with the corresponding experimental findings.

The paper reports on a method of producing spherical targets with a light ablator layer having a density of 0·2g/cm3 and a thickness 10μm. This method for obtaining polystyrene microballoons and polyethylene microballs works for hemispheres made from plastics and metals with diameters from 600 to 1200 μm and wall thicknesses from 10 to 50 μm. It also provides a way to assemble cascade targets.

Stark broadening of Lyman lines in high density plasmas is treated theoretically to study the effects of the fields inside the plasmas, the microfield, and the oscillating fields from Langmuir waves. Resonance features are expected to be observed from the line profiles, especially about the microfield.