THE VELOCITY KINETIC-ENERGY DISTRIBUTIONS OF SC AND SCO AND OPTICAL-SPECTRA FROM THE LASER VAPORIZATION OF SC2O3

A translationally fast pulsed beam of scandium atoms, ions, and scandi um monoxide is produced by laser vaporization using the second harmoni c (lambda = 532 nm) of a Nd:YAG laser. Laser power densities range fro m 1.1 X 10(7) to 9.5 X 10(8) W cm-2 , resulting in beams with kinetic energies up to 30 eV. The kinetic energy distributions of the vaporize d species are measured by time-of-flight spectroscopy. High-velocity s candium atoms, ions and scandium monoxide molecules were produced duri ng irradiation. Optical spectra of the vaporized species, taken simult aneously using an optical multichannel analyzer, reveal that the speci es are being formed in excited states. The applicability of using the laser-generated species in kinetic and spectroscopic studies will be d iscussed.