Self-focusing and the initial stages of plasma generation by short laser pulses

When a short high power laser pulse interacts with a transparent solid target in vacuum, radiation in the rising edge of the pulse can self-focus in the solid and cause "damage tracks". The self-focusing stage of the laser/solid interaction has been studied, a method has been found to suppress the "damage tracks", and information about the penetration of laser radiation through the critical layer of plasma, in the early stages of the interaction, has been obtained.