The PALS Research Center, a joint laboratory of the Institute of Physics and the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences is equipped with the pulsed iodine photodissociation laser system Asterix IV, i.e., one of the largest high-power laser systems in Europe; because of its high-quality beam carrying up to 1ÃkJ of near-infrared 1,315.2-nm radiation in a single 350-ps pulse, reliable, stable, and economical operation, and versatile target facilities with numerous diagnostic tools is the PALS in great demand for both fundamental and applied studies of laser-plasma interaction phenomena at intensities reaching 3×1016 W/cm2. Various pump-and- probe experiments using synchronized short and ultra-short laser pulses can be performed thanks to an auxiliary ultra-fast beam (Ti:Sapphire laser system delivering 1 J in 40-fs pulses) implemented a few years ago.
