We report on the dynamical expansion of pulsed laser ablation of aluminum in ambient pressure of nitrogen using images of the expanding plasma. The plasma follows shock model at pressures of 0.1 Torr and drag model at 70 Torr, respectively, with incident laser energy of 265 mJ. The plasma expansion shows unstable boundaries at 70 Torr and is attributed to Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The growth time of Rayleigh-Taylor instability is estimated between 0.09 and 4 mu s when the pressure is varied from I to 70 Torr. The pressure gradients at the plasma-gas interface gives rise to self-generated magnetic field and is estimated to be 26 kG at I Torr ambient pressure using the image of the expanding plasma near the focal spot. The varying degree of polarization of Al III transition 4s S-2(1/2)-4p P-2 degrees(3/2) at 569.6 nm gives rise to anisotropic emission and is attributed to the self-generated magnetic field that results in the splitting of the energy levels and subsequent recombination of plasma leading to the population imbalance. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.