Observation of laser satellites in a plasma produced by a femtosecond laser pulse

Laser satellites are detected in the emission spectra of magnesium and aluminum plasmas produced by femtosecond laser pulses. This is made possible by the realization of picosecond time resolution in a highluminosity x-ray spectrograph with a spherically curved mica crystal. The temporal characteristics of these newly recorded spectral lines show unequivocally that they are formed as a result of nonlinear processes