We present the results of investigations undertaken to establish relationships between certain characteristics of the disintegration of metals in air and liquid under laser radiation and their thermophysical properties, as well as between the basic parameters of a gas cavity formed in a liquid and the energy of the laser ablation products of metals. Consideration is given to the possibilities of applying the dynamic properties of this cavity to control the time behavior of the radiation of solid-state lasers and to solve spectroanalytical problems.