A single high-power laser pulse can produce a dense nonideal plasma plume from
a metallic surface, whose Coulomb interaction energy density is no longer neligible
compared with the plasma’s thermal energy density. An open issue of significant interest
is the way in which the Debye length scaling breaks down in the nonideal plasma regime.
The breakdown is closely aligned with ionization potential lowerings and modifications
to the plasma’s self-absorption properties. Our program for delineation of the breakdown
consists of full reconstruction of the plasma as a 3-D radiator, consistent with all lower
dimensional observables as constraints. Attempts to substantially increase the plasma
density by neutral gas confinement have resulted in asymmetric plumes due to
development of Rayleigh-Taylor instability, and this has led to a robust reconstruction
algorithm that is applicable to arbitrary volume radiators.