Heteropolyatomic gas-phase species produced by laser ablation of lead titanate oxide, studied by laser microprobe mass spectrometry

Frequency tripled Nd:YAG (355 nm) laser ablations of lead titanate in a vac uum (10(-6) mbar) have produced oxide cluster ions identified in positive a nd negative mode by laser microprobe mass spectrometry (LMMS). It appears t hat laser ablation of PbTiO3 generates titanium/oxygen, lead/oxygen, and bi metallic lead/titanium/oxygen positive mixed clusters. The formation of neg ative clusters from PbTiO3 is dominated by the aggregation of pure titanium /oxygen ions. The positive clusters are oxygen-poor as compared to the nega tive ones. The latter could be efficient oxygen carriers in the pulsed lase r deposition of PbTiO3 thin films. In addition, examining the formation pro cess of both negative and positive clusters allowed indentification of sign ificant neutral constituents of the plume.