Laser ablation of ternary As‐S‐Se glasses and time‐of‐flight mass spectrometric study

Ternary chalcogenide As‐S‐Se glasses, important for optics, computers, material science and technological applications, are often made by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technology but the plasma composition formed during the process is mostly unknown. Therefore, the formation of clusters in a plasma plume from different glasses was followed by laser desorption ionization (LDI) or laser ablation (LA) time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (TOF MS) in positive and negative ion modes. The LA of glasses of different composition leads to the formation of a number of binary As_pS_q, As_pSe_r and ternary As_pS_qSe_r singly charged clusters. Series of clusters with the ratio As:chalcogen = 3:3 (As₃S, As₃S₂Se⁺, As₃SSe), 3:4 (As₃S, As₃S₃Se⁺, As₃S₂Se, As₃SSe, As₃Se), 3:1 (As₃S⁺, As₃Se⁺), and 3:2 (As₃S, As₃SSe⁺, As₃Se), formed from both bulk and PLD‐deposited nano‐layer glass, were detected. The stoichiometry of the As_pS_qSe_r clusters was determined via isotopic envelope analysis and computer modeling. The structure of the clusters is discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.