AN OPTICAL-EMISSION SPECTROSCOPIC STUDY ON VISIBLE LASER-ABLATION OF TA2O5 IN AMBIENT O-2

The composition and evolution of the plume generated by 532 nm laser a blation of a Ta2O5 target in ambient O-2 has been studied by optical e mission spectroscopy. tonic and neutral atomic Ta as well as TaO molec ules are observed in the plume. Two components of TaO emission are obs erved by spatially and temporally resolved emission spectroscopy. The delay time and intensity of TaO emission are measured as a function of laser fluence, distance from the target surface and ambient O-2 press ure. The results suggest that the interaction between the laser radiat ion and the target as well as the reactions of the ablated species wit h oxygen play an important role in the growth of the Ta2O5 film. (C) 1 998 Elsevier Science B.V.