| Summary: | The role of positive ions in the energy and momentum balance of a laser produced plasma, is an extremely important topic in the field of laser induced compression of matter. A brief review of ion energy analysers available for use in the field of laser produced plasmas is included in the thesis. The details of the design, development and construction of a new type of ion analyser, a t 2 analyser, are also reported. The t 2 analyser developed was used to investigate the ions emitted from a plasma produced by focussing a neodymum-in-glass laser onto a solid carbon target. The ion energy distributions obtained are included as well as a short review of theoretical models relating these distributions to some plasma parameters. Pressure dependent effects were observed, and were shown to be due to charge exchange between the ions and the background gas present in the chamber.
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