Terawatt lasers: probing unique material properties with novel diagnostic source

Short pulse and high intensity lasers can produce bright ultrashort-pulse-duration X-rays, electrons and ions. They also make highly nonequilibrium plasmas that can be used to deposit thin films with unique material properties. We present new experimental results on all of these topics. We first report results on the characterization, control, and applications of ultrashort X-rays emitted from laser plasmas. It is demonstrated experimentally that the pulse duration may be controlled by adjusting the incident ultrashort-pulse laser flux.