Instrumentation for the study of the kinetic energy distribution and mass composition of particles produced by pulsed laser evaporation of solid materials

Abstract

Equipment has been designed for the study of the energy distribution and mass composition of particles, particularly positive ions, emitted from solids upon irradiation with laser pulses from a TEA CO2 laser (power densities in the order of 108 W/cm2). The equipment for the mass/energy analysis consists of a quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS) and a modified cylindrical mirror analyzer (CMA) which can measure parallel ion beams. This paper describes the equipment, the basic construction, and the operation principles of the experimental setup. The system performance and experimental procedures are described on the basis of some preliminary experimental results. The results indicate that the analyzer described in this paper is capable of measuring the mass composition and the energy distribution of particles, particularly positive ions, supplied either in a pulsed or in a continuous manner. It is useful in studying charged particles in processes involving multispecies plasmas, like those occurring in thin film deposition through evaporation of targets by means of a pulsed laser.