Initial target experiments with the iodine laser

During the last years the production of high-power radiation with the iodine laser has been demonstrated at several places in the world. At Garching recently 1 TW pulses of 500 J within 500 ps have been obtained. However, until now no experience existed in using this type of laser for plasma production. In this report we present preliminary results of the first target experiments. The main goal of these experiments is to investigate target-laser problems, which occur if a laser is used for plasma production. Important problems are target damage by prepulses, focusibility of the beam and isolation of the laser against backreflection