INVESTIGATION OF PLASMA PRODUCED BY LASER AND ELECTRON PULSE ABLATION

Short laser pulses with high energy are a very promising tool for cont rolled ablation of materials, both for structurization and for deposit ion. They are especially suited for the ablation of non-conducting and of complex materials. The plasmas induced by the laser irradiation ar e distinguished by their high degree of ionization and excitation. A n ew source with comparable pulse properties is represented by the chann el spark device. It delivers pulsed high current and self-focused elec tron beams (about 15 keV, 1 kA, 100 ns). The plasma produced by lasers and by electron pulses has been compared for an aluminium target. The state of the plasma has been characterized by the emitted optical rad iation, spectral resolved. Considering the short pulse times, the high expansion velocity and the small dimensions, a special device combini ng high temporal, high spatial and high spectral resolution has been a pplied. The identity and the fraction of the dominating species have b een determined in this way.