The analysis of LiH and LiD nanosecond — created laser plasmas reveals correlations between the various parameters of each plasma event. Relationships are found involving the energy spectra of the ion species, the target reflectivity, neutron production, hard and soft x‐ray emission, the electron temperature, and the input laser energy. Ion — expansion spectra of nonthermal origin are observed under the condition of high target reflectivity. High target reflectance is correlated to neutron and hard x‐ray production as well as an apparent decrease in electron thermal content for laser energies of 18–70 J. The ion — expansion spectra are obtained with mass and charge separation by the parallel electric and magnetic fields of a Thomson parabola ion analyzer. A novel feature of this device is the conversion of the analyzed ion beam to a visible image via an electron multiplier array, providing complete information on a single — shot basis. The Nd+3glass laser used in these experiments delivers up to 70 J to the target in 2.5 nsec (FWHM) pulses from a four‐amplifier system. Isolation and protection of the smaller amplifiers from amplified target feedback is accomplished by insertion of a pulsed Faraday rotator between the second and third amplifiers.