Optical Detection of Slow Excited Neutrals in Plasma-Assisted Excimer Laser Ablation

Abstract

The observation of a slow optically excited component in the excimer laser-ablated YBCO plume due to the presence of a biased ring electrode is reported. The temporal dynamics of the plume were investigated by using time-of-flight (TOF) optical emission spectroscopy (OES). Time-resolved emission signals reveal excitation and resultant fluorescence from slow-moving plume species in the presence of the discharge.