Atomic Processes in Emission Characteristics of a Lithium Plasma Plume Formed by Double-Pulse Laser Ablation

Abstract

High resolution spectral analysis of lithium plasma formed by single and double laser ablation has been undertaken to understand the plume-laser interaction, especially at the early stages of the plasma plume. In order to identify different atomic processes in evolving plasma, time resolved spectral emission studies at different inter-pulse delays have been performed for ionic and neutral lithium lines emitting from different levels. Along with the enhancement in emission intensity, a large line broadening and spectral shift, especially in the case of excited state transition Li I 610.3 nm have been observed in the presence of the second pulse. This broadening and shift gradually decrease with increasing time delay. Another interesting feature is the appearance of a multi-component structure in the ionic line at 548.4 nm and these components change conversely into a single structure at the later stages of the plasma. The multi-component structures are correlated with the presence of different velocity (temperature) distributions in non-LTE conditions. Atomic analyses by computing photon emissivity coefficients with an ADAS code have been used to identify the above processes.