Abstract
This paper deals with the formation of plasma resulting from the interaction between a laser beam and a metal target in an ambient gas. The different steps of the plasma formation are reviewed: initiation with primary electron production, surface material vaporisation and ionisation, breakdown in the ambient gas and plasma propagation. The influence of the laser wavelength, the material characteristics and the ambient gas nature is studied. Three applications of laser-induced plasmas are briefly described: direct nitridation of metal surface, pulsed laser deposition and soft laser material ablation coupled to resonance ionisation mass spectrometry for ultra-trace analysis.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Cheung J. and Horwitz J., Pulsed laser deposition history and laser-target interactions, M.R.S. Bulletin XVII(2), 30 (1992).
von Allmen M., Laser-Beam Interaction with Materials, Springer-Verlag, Berlin (1987); (b) Gower M.C., “Excimer lasers: current and future applications”, in Laser Processing in Manufacturing, Chapman and Hall, London (1993).
Sona A., Laser in industry: metalworking processes and systems, Physica Scripta T23, 288 (1998).
Dubreuil B., Gibert T., Barthe M.F. and Debrun J.L., Laser-SIMS: an application of laser resonant multiphoton ionisation spectroscopy to material analysis, Laser in Engineering 1, 283 (1993).
Riabkina-Fishman M. and Zahari J., Structure and microhardness of laser-hardened 1045 steel, J. Mater. Sci. 23, 1547 (1988).
Mordike B.L., Laser de Puissance et Traitements des Materiaux, Presses Polytechniques et Universitaires Romandes, Lausanne, p. 176 (1991).
d’Anna E., Leggieri G. and Luches A., Synthesis of thin films of semiconductor and refractory metal nitrides by laser irradiation of solid samples in ambient gases, Thin Solid Films 218, 219 (1992).
Fogarassy E., Slaoui A., Fuchs C. and Stoquert J.P., Deposition of SiO2 by reactive excimer laser ablation from a SiO target, Appl. Surf. Sci. 46, 195 (1990).
Boulmer-Leborgne C., Hermann J., Dubreuil B., Brault P., DeGiorgi M.L., Leggieri G., Luches A., Martino M., Perrone A., Mihailescu I.N., Ursu I., Blondiaux G., Debrun J.L., Estrade H. and Rousseau B., Direct carbidation of titanium as a result of multipulse UV laser irradiation of titanium samples in an ambient methane gas, Appl. Surf. Sc. 54, 349 (1992).
Champeaux C., Damiani D., Girault C., Marchet P., Aubreton J., Mercurio J.P. and Catherinot A., Laser Ablation of Electronic Materials, North-Holland-Elsevier, Amsterdam, p. 141 (1992).
Norton D.P., Lowndes D.H., Zheng X.Y., Zhu S. and Warmack R.J., Scanning tunneling microscopy of pulsed laser deposited YBaCuO epitaxial thin films: Surface microstructure and growth mechanism, Phys. Rev. B44, 9760 (1991).
Strupp P.G., Stair P.C. and Weitz E., Pulsed laser induced electron and positive ion emission from Cu(100) under UHV conditions near the threshold for surface damage, J. Appl. Phys. 69, 3472 (1991).
(a) Root R.G., “Modeling of post-breakdown phenomena”, in LJ. Radziemski and D.A. Cremers (eds.), Laser Induced Plasmas and Applications, M. Dekker, New York (1989); (b) Weyl G.M., “Physics of laser induced breakdown: an update”, ibid.
Weyl G.M., Pirri A. and Root R., Laser ignition of plasma off aluminium surfaces, A.I.A.A. Journal 19, 460 (1981).
Vorobev V.S. and Maksimenko S.V., Surface laser plasma accompanying the heating and evaporation of microdefects, Sov. J. Quantum Electron. 18, 1595 (1988).
Hermann J., Boulmer-Leborgne C., Mihailescu I.N. and Dubreuil B., Multistage plasma initiation process by pulsed CO2 laser irradiation of a Ti sample in an ambient gas (He, Ar, N2), J. Appl. Phys. 73, 1091 (1993).
Geerstsen C., Briand A., Chartier F., Lacour J.L., Mauchien P., Sjostrom S. and Mermet J.M., Comparison between infrared and ultraviolet laser ablation at atmospheric pressure. Implications for solid sampling inductively couple plasma spectrometry, J. Anal. Atom. Spectrom. 9, 17 (1994).
Kelly R. and Dreyfus R.W., On the effect of knudsen layer formation on studies of vaporisation, sputtering and desorption, Surface Science 198, 263 (1988).
Finke B.R. and Simon G., On the gas kinetics of laser-induced evaporation of metals, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 23, 67 (1990).
Richter A., Characteristic features of laser-produced plasmas for thin film deposition, Thin Solid Films 188, 275 (1990).
Hermann J., Boulmer-Leborgne C., Dubreuil B. and Mihailescu I.N.: (a) Investigation by laser-induced fluoresence of surface vaporisation during the pulsed CO2 laser irradiation of a titanium sample in an ambient gas, J. Appl. Phys. 71, 5629 (1992); (b) Influence of irradiation conditions on plasma evolution in laser-surface interaction, ibid. 74, 3071 (1993).
Boulmer-Leborgne C., Hermann J. and Dubreuil B., Spectroscopic observation of the plasma produced by a CO2 laser beam interacting with titanium target under helium and/or argon atmosphere, Appl. Phys. A55, 340 (1992).
Maher W.E., Hall R.B. and Jonhson R.R., Experimental study of ignition and propagation of laser-suported detonation waves, J. Appl. Phys. 45, 2138 (1974).
Herziger G., “Physics of laser material processing”, in Proceedings of S.P.I.E Conf. High Power Lasers and their Industrial Applications, 650, pp. 188–194 (1986).
Chase L.L., Hamza A.V. and Lee H.W.H., “Laser ablation and optical surface damage”, in J.C. Miller and R.F. Haglund (eds.), Laser Ablation, Mechanisms and Applications, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, p. 193 (1991).
Mazumder J., Rockstrh T.J. and Krier H., Spectroscopic studies of plasma during laser gas heating in flowing argon, J. Appl. Phys. 62, 4712 (1987).
Iida Y., Effects of atmosphere on laser vaporisation and excitation processes of solid samples, Spectrochimica Acta 45B, 1353 (1990).
Cotell CM. and Grabowski K.S., Novel materials applications of pulsed laser deposition, MRS Bulletin XVII(2), 44 (1992).
Gibert T., Dubreuil B., Barthe M.F. and Debrun J.L., Investigation of laser sputtering of iron at low fluence using resonance ionisation mass spectrometry, J. Appl. Phys. 74, 2504 (1993).
Wei P.S.P., A spectroscopic study on the evaporation of aluminium as irradiated by a long pulse Nd laser, J. Appl. Phys. 48, 4196 (1977).
Measures R.M., Drewel N. and Kwong H.S., Atomic lifetimes measurements obtained by the use of laser ablation and selective excitation spectroscopy, Phys. Rev. A16, 1093 (1977).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Boulmer-Leborgne, C. (1995). Laser-Material Interaction. Plasma Formation and Applications. In: Misaelides, P. (eds) Application of Particle and Laser Beams in Materials Technology. NATO ASI Series, vol 283. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8459-3_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8459-3_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-4510-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-015-8459-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive