Characterization of charge and kinetic energy distribution of ions emitted during nanosecond pulsed laser ablation of several metals

Abstract

The ion flux from various metals (Al, Ti, Cu, Sn and W) ablated with 20 ns Nd:YAG laser radiation at a wavelength of 1064 nm was investigated by an ion collector operating in time-of-flight (TOF) configuration. The laser irradiance at the target was varied in the range of 1.7 × 108–5.73 × 108 W cm−2. Ion yield from various metals showed a linearly increasing trend with increasing laser irradiance, whereas ion yield was found to decrease with an increasing atomic mass of the target. Our results clearly indicate that ion yield is not a function of the volatility of the metal. TOF ion spectra showed at least two groups of low intensity peaks due to fast ions. The first group of ion peaks, which was present in the spectra of all five metals, was due to surface contamination. The additional fast ion structures in the spectra of Sn and W can be related to the ion acceleration due to the prompt electron emission from these high-Z metals. The ion velocity follows the anticipated inverse square root dependence on the ion mass. For the range of laser irradiance investigated here, the most probable energy of the Cu ions increases from about 100–600 eV. The fast increase in ion energy above ~3 × 108 W cm−2 is related to the increase of the Columb part of the ion energy due to the production of multiply charged ions.