Issac, R C; Varier, G K; Gopinath, P; Harilal, S S; Nampoori, V P N; Vallabhan, C P G(Springer Berlin / Heidelberg, 1998)
[+]
[-]
Abstract:
A silver target kept under partial vacuum conditions
was irradiated with focused nanosecond pulses at
1:06 mm from a Nd:YAG laser. The electron emission monitored
with a Langmuir probe shows a clear twin-peak distribution.
The first peak which is very sharp has only a small delay
and it indicates prompt electron emission with energy as
much as 60 5 eV. Also the prompt electron emission shows
a temporal profile with a width that is same as that for the
laser pulse whereas the second peak is broader, covers several
microseconds, and represents the low-energy electrons
(2 0:5 eV) associated with the laser-induced silver plasma
as revealed by time-of-flight measurements. It has been found
that prompt electrons ejected from the target collisionally
excite and ionize ambient gas molecules. Clearly resolved
rotational structure is observed in the emission spectra of
ambient nitrogen molecules. Combined with time-resolved
spectroscopy, the prompt electrons can be used as excitation
sources for various collisional excitation–relaxation experiments.
The electron density corresponding to the first peak is
estimated to be of the order of 1017 cm?--3 and it is found that
the density increases as a function of distance away from the
target. Dependence of probe current on laser intensity shows
plasma shielding at high laser intensities.