Ultrafast plasma shutter for shielding high-energy ionsfrom a laser-produced plasma

A laser-produced plasma was employed as an ultrafast shutter for shielding high-energy ions. Fast ions with energy on the order of keV were prevented from reaching the detector by a shutter plasma. The ion signal was suppressed to 1% of the unshielded peak ion signal. Suppression of the ion signal was observed up to 10 mm from the target surface of the shutter plasma. The shutter closing time was 40 ns at the distance of 2 mm . The plasma shutter could operate even at a 100 kHz repetition rate. The high-density plasma acts as a shutter by capturing a low-density plasma.