Effects of ambient background gases on YBCO plume propagation under film growth conditions: Spectroscopic, ion probe, and fast photographic studies

摘要

The formation, composition, and propagation of KrF laser-produced plasmas from Y(sub 1)Ba(sub 2)Cu(sub 3)O(sub 7-x) have been studied with emphasis on topics relevant to film growth by pulsed-laser deposition. Spatially and temporally resolved, high-resolution optical absorption and emission spectroscopy, fast ion probes, and fast photography (obtained with a gated, image-intensified CCD array detector (ICCD)) are employed to investigate both emitting and non-emitting species in the laser plume as well as the overall shape and propagation of the laser plasma in background gases of oxygen and xenon. Transient optical absorption spectroscopy is applied to study the composition of the plume of ejected material from the dense layer near the target surface to distances of several centimeters. Optical absorption persists long after the decay of plasma fluorescence, indicating a slower component to plume transport. The absorption of YO formed by YBCO ablation in vacuum and by-yttrium ablation in oxygen is presented. Fast electric ion probes are utilized to measure velocities and total collected charge of the positive ions in the expanding YBCO laser plasma from near-threshold, vacuum conditions into the high fluence, background gas conditions utilized for thin-film growth. The exponential attenuation of the positive ion flux transmitted through 50--300 mTorr background oxygen is measured and used to define an attenuation coefficient. The showing of the laser plasma and formation of shock structures due to gas collisions is studied by ion probe measurements and fast ICCD photography. A comparison between shock wave propagation and drag models is presented to describe the arrival time and shape of the ion probe current waveform with distance. 11 refs, 11 figs.