We present measurements of ion velocity distribution profiles obtained by
laser induced fluorescence (LIF) on an explosive laser produced plasma (LPP).
The spatio-temporal evolution of the resulting carbon ion velocity distribution
was mapped by scanning through the Doppler-shifted absorption wavelengths using
a tunable, diode-pumped laser. The acquisition of this data was facilitated by
the high repetition rate capability of the ablation laser (1 Hz) which allowed
the accumulation of thousand of laser shots in short experimental times. By
varying the intensity of the LIF beam, we were able to explore the effects of
fluorescence power against laser irradiance in the context of evaluating the
saturation versus the non-saturation regime. The small beam size of the LIF
beam led to high spatial resolution of the measurement compared to other ion
velocity distribution measurement techniques, while the fast-gated operation
mode of the camera detector enabled the measurement of the relevant electron
transitions