Heavy ion interaction experiments with plasmas

High current discharges generating a fully ionized hydrogen plasma and a high energy Nd:glass laser system (100J, 15ns) to produce a high density carbon plasma were used to study the interaction processes of heavy ions with ionized matter. The energy loss and charge state distribution of the projectile ions have been measured. Fully ionized plasmas show an enhanced stopping power due to the effective stripping of the ion. We report experimental findings that high density carbon plasmas, not fully ionized, also show an enhanced stopping power due to charge state effects and due to the efficient energy transfer to free electrons.