Abstract: | For the first time, the dissipation of laser-radiation energy in the gas surrounding a target is investigated under the conditions of intense plasma formation near a surface and the existence of large spots of: irradiation. The parameters of different regions of the heated gas are measured and an energy balance of the process of laser effects is obtained. Institute of Molecular and Atomic Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 70, F. Skorina Ave., Minsk, 220072, Belarus. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 65, No. 6, pp. 814–817, November–December, 1998. |