Aluminum foils 1–75 mgr;m thick were irradiated by 500‐psec Nd‐glass laser pulses with intensities 6×1012to 1014W/cm2. The reflected and transmitted light and the produced x rays were measured using PIN photodiodes and crystal spectrometers. Two torsion pendula were used to measure the target and the plasma momenta. Both measurements are consistent with a simple hydrodynamic model. We obtain plasma pressures in the range 1.5–13 Mbars, shock‐wave velocities between 0.9×106and 2.6×106cm/sec, penetration depths of the ablation surface in the domain of 3–10 mgr;m for laser intensities in the range 6×1012to 1014W/cm2. The burn‐through times (i.e., the times that a hole is opened in the foil) for foils 25, 50, and 75 mgr;m thick are measured to be 8±5, 18±5, and 25±5 nsec, respectively.
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