Isotopic ratio of evaporated ions,critical ionization distances,and ionization regions in the process of the field evaporation of molybdenum at high temperatures

A magnetic mass spectrometer with a field ion source has been used to study the steady-state field evaporation of molybdenum at a temperature of 1000–2000 K. Ions of all seven molybdenum isotopes have been observed in the process of evaporation; only low-charge ions Mo⁺² and Mo⁺ have been detected. The critical ionization distances and ionization regions for single- and double-charge Mo ions have been identified based on the measured ion energies and the experimentally determined intensity of the evaporation field. It has been demonstrated that ions are produced in the process of field evaporation of surface atoms at certain distances from the emitter surface in a very narrow spatial region.     

Measurement of the charge state distribution of field evaporated ions originating from alloys

The charge state distribution of field evaporated ions from the pure metals Mo, W, Au, Pt and from alloys of these elements has been determined as a function of the electric field strength. The change of the mean charge of these elements when desorbed from an alloy with a different evaporation field can be explained by the model of post ionization. The general validity of this model has also been tested for the change of the mean charge of iridium ions evaporated in the presence of adsorbed hydrogen.     

Advanced targets,diagnostics and applications of laser-generated plasmas

High-intensity sub-nanosecond-pulsed lasers irradiating thin targets in vacuum permit generation of electrons and ion acceleration and high photon yield emission in non-equilibrium plasmas. At intensities higher than 10¹⁵?W/cm² thin foils can be irradiated in the target-normal sheath acceleration regime driving ion acceleration in the forward direction above 1?MeV per charge state. The distributions of emitted ions in terms of energy, charge state and angular emission are controlled by laser parameters, irradiation conditions, target geometry and composition. Advanced targets can be employed to increase the laser absorption in thin foils and to enhance the energy and the yield of the ion acceleration process. Semiconductor detectors, Thomson parabola spectrometer and streak camera can be employed as online plasma diagnostics to monitor the plasma parameters, shot by shot. Some applications in the field of the multiple ion implantation, hadrontherapy and nuclear physics are reported.     

Effective radius of adatoms/single atom of polycrystalline W nanotip in gas field ion source

A gas field ion source (GFIS) has several advantages such as high current density, low energy spread, and high brightness. In this study, Helium gas was used in a GFIS, generated using the field ionization and field evaporation processes. The (110) oriented three adatoms tip (TAT) and single atom tip (SAT) were prepared with its ion emission stability 9.8% and 10.1% by the nitrogen field-assisted etching, respectively. The TAT and SAT were reproduced throughout the field evaporation and nitrogen field-assisted etching along the same crystal axis with its brightness 2.6 × 10⁷ A/(m² sr) and 1.6 × 10⁸ A/(m² sr), respectively. The field emission electron beam effective radii for three adatoms and single atom were calculated to be 2.90 Å and 1.47 Å, respectively, by Fowler-Nordheim plot, in which the single atom size was especially shown to be quite in good consistency with an atomic radius of tungsten.     

Characterization of laser-generated silicon plasma

A study of visible laser ablation of silicon, in vacuum, by using 3 ns Nd:YAG laser radiation is reported. Nanosecond pulsed ablation, at an intensity of the order of 10¹⁰ W/cm², produces high non-isotropic emission of neutrals and ionic species. Mass quadrupole spectrometry, coupled to electrostatic ion deflection, allows estimation of the energy distributions of the emitted species from plasma. Neutrals show typical Boltzmann-like distributions while ions show Coulomb-Boltzmann-shifted distributions depending on their charge state. Time-of-flight measurements were also performed by using an ion collector consisting of a collimated Faraday cup placed along the normal to the target surface. Surface profiles of the craters, created by the laser radiation absorption, permitted to study the ablation threshold and ablation yields of silicon in vacuum. The plasma fractional ionization, temperature and density were evaluated by the experimental data. A special regard is given to the ion acceleration process occurring inside the plasma due to the high electrical field generated at the non-equilibrium plasma conditions. The angular distribution of the neutral and ion species is discussed.     

Formation of fast multicharged heavy ions under the action of a superintense femtosecond laser pulse on the cleaned surface of a target

It is found that the mean charge of tungsten ions in a solid tungsten target cleaned from the surface layer of hydrocarbon and oxide compounds and exposed to femtosecond laser radiation with an intensity exceeding 10¹⁶ W/cm² attains 22+, while the maximum charge is 29+. The maximum energy of such ions approaches 1 MeV. The corresponding values obtained on a dirty target with the same laser pulse parameters constitute 3+, 5+, and 150 keV. The results of numerical simulation show that such a large maximum charge of ions can be attained owing to the emergence of an electrostatic ambipolar field at the sharp boundary between the plasma and vacuum. The main mechanism of ionization of ions with maximum charges is apparently impact ionization in the presence of an external quasi-static field. In addition, direct above-threshold ionization by this field can also play a significant role. It is also shown that heavy ions in a clean target are accelerated by hot electrons. This leads to the formation of high-energy ions. The effect of recombination on the charge of the ions being detected is analyzed in detail.     

Charge state of ions in liquid metal field ion sources

The post-ionization model of field evaporation is shown to be consistent with observations of singly and doubly charged ions in liquid metal field ion sources. The model can be used to estimate the field strength at the apex of the Taylor cone which is found to be 1.9–2.0 V/Å for a Ga source. Experiments to test the post-ionization model and to determine the apex field strength more accurately are suggested. A possible method of obtaining ～μA currents of highly charged ions, e.g. Zr⁴⁺, Ta⁴⁺, Ga³⁺, As³⁺, is proposed.     

Possible laser modification of field ion microscopy

A modification of field ion microscope, based on radical reduction of intensity of electric field essential for field-ionization of imaging gas atoms, is suggested. For this purpose the imaging gas atoms are excited by a laser radiation to quantum states nearby the ionization limit. As excited atoms approach the point the field ionization must occur in rather weak fields (～10⁷ V/cm) which eliminate electric field induced effects of molecular evaporation and decomposition.     

Tungsten ions produced by infrared pulsed laser irradiation

Energetic ions have been obtained irradiating a tungsten target with a Q-switched Nd:Yag laser, 1064?nm wavelength, 9?ns pulse width, 900?mJ maximum pulse energy and power density of the order of 10¹⁰?W/cm². The laser-target interaction induces a strong metal etching with production of plasma in front of the target. The plasma contains neutrals and ions with high charge state. Time-of-flight measurements are presented for qualitative analysis of the ion production. A cylindrical electrostatic ion analyzer permits measuring of the yield of emitted ions, the charge state of detected ions and the ion energy distribution. Measurements indicate that, at a laser fluence of the order of 100?J/cm², the charge state may reach 9+ and the ion energy reaches about 5?keV. The ion energy distribution is given as a function of the charge state. Experimental results indicate that an electrical field is developed along the normal to the plane of the target surface, which accelerates the ions up to high velocity. The ion velocity distributions follow a “shifted Maxwellian distribution”, which the author has corrected for the Coulomb interactions occurring inside the plasma.     

Experimental investigation on field evaporation of singly and doubly charged rhodium

Field ion mass spectrometry and field ion appearance spectroscopy are used to analyze field evaporation processes of singly and doubly charged rhodium ions. Field strengths were ranged between 17 and 41 V/nm at tip temperatures between 600 and 100 K. The appearance energies of doubly charged species were found to increase with increasing field strengths from 29.5 ± 0.4 to 32.0 ± 0.2 eV, those of the singly charged species from 11.2 ± 0.1 to 12.4 ± 0.1 eV. Activation energies as determined from measured temperature dependences of the ion counting rates are equal for both kinds of ionic species and decrease from 1.5 to 0.05 eV with increasing field strengths. The observed field dependences cannot be predicted from the image hump model of field evaporation. Evaporation of Rh¹⁺is better understood using the charge exchange model. Generation of Rh²⁺ is described by the postionization of Rh¹⁺ within the frame of a simple potential energy model from which the average interaction energy of rhodium surface atoms with their nearest neighbours may be derived.     

Rescattering of electrons at laser-cluster interactions

The goal of this work is to derive the angular distributions of electrons irradiated at the outer ionization of large atomic clusters from Xe atoms by relativistic laser pulses taking into account rescattering processes. Both the magnetic field of the laser pulse and the Coulomb field of the ionized cluster significantly influence the rescattering of ejected electrons. The multiply inner ionization of atoms occurs at the leading edge of the laser pulse. The atomic ions with charge multiplicities up to Z = 26 are subsequently produced (each atomic ion with the next charge multiplicity appears in 3–5 fs) when the laser intensity increases. The measurements of the angular distributions of electrons allow us to reproduce the imaging dynamics of outer ionization of the cluster at the leading edge of the relativistic femtosecond laser pulse.     

Charge composition of a cluster plasma upon irradiation of large atomic clusters by the field of a superatomic femtosecond laser pulse

A theory is developed for calculating the charge composition of a cluster plasma produced upon irradiation of large atomic clusters by the field of a superatomic femtosecond laser pulse. The theory is based on the overbarrier process of a successive multiple internal ionization of atomic ions inside a cluster accompanied by the external field ionization. Collision ionization is also taken into account in the calculations. The theory is illustrated by the example of a cluster consisting of 10⁶ xenon atoms irradiated by a 50-fs laser pulse with a peak intensity of 2×10¹⁸ W/cm². In this case, the Xe²⁶⁺ ions dominate. The amounts of atomic xenon ions with multiplicity up to 31 are calculated.     

Energy spectrum of field ionization at a single atomic site

Energy deficit spectra of field ions coming from above a single atomic site are measured by using an atom-probe FIM modified with a Möllenstedt energy analyzer. This device offers a resolution of 5 × 10^?5 and is inherently more efficient and less noisy than a retarder. The energy spectra made up of 10 to 100 ions/sec are displayed on the screen of an assembly of two microchannel plates and are photographically recorded within a few seconds. Jason peaks for H₂⁺ and Ne⁺ are confirmed, and are also found for He⁺. High-order multiple peaks appear when ions are taken from the flat, closely packed net planes of W and Ir field ion emitters. The results are in quantitative agreement with a resonance model similar to one by Alferieff and Duke and by Jason. Noble gas ions are also observed from the forbidden zone near the surface, and interpreted as apex-adsorbed atoms ionized by or after excitation by the electron shower coming from farther-out field ionization of other gas atoms. Energy from excited metastable apex-adsorbed atoms may account for artifact vacancies observed particularly when field evaporation is performed in neon.     

Effect of the emitter temperature and emitter atom ionization potential on field evaporation

The field evaporation of nickel, nichrome alloy, and tungsten carbide at different temperatures is studied with a time-of-flight atomic probe and a field emission microscope. The charge of evaporating ions does not depend on the emitter temperature: it decreases with decreasing evaporating field F _ev. If F _ev does not vary with temperature, so does the charge of the ions. In the case of multicomponent emitters with different ionization potentials of the components, the components evaporate at the same values of F _ev in the form of atoms and ionized clusters. The reason for such behavior is that the initial evaporation of the easily ionizable component decreases the binding energy of harder-to-ionize ones to the point where they can evaporate at the same field.     

强激光场中氢负离子双光子电离能量谱的研究

利用强场近似（Strong field approximation,SFA）方法研究氢负离子（H ）在强激光场中双光子电离的能量谱,所得到的电离谱随角度的变化规律与实验结果符合得很好.进一步的研究表明, H 离子在强激光场中双光子电离的能量谱与有质动力能有关.激光场强度越大,光电子的有质动力能也越大,能量谱向左移动越明显.我们的结果表明,使用强场近似是一种研究负离子在强激光场中电离过程的有效方法.     

强激光场中氢负离子双光子电离能量谱的研究

利用强场近似(Strong field approximation,SFA)方法研究氢负离子(H-)在强激光场中双光子电离的能量谱,所得到的电离谱随角度的变化规律与实验结果符合得很好.进一步的研究表明,H-离子在强激光场中双光子电离的能量谱与有质动力能有关.激光场强度越大,光电子的有质动力能也越大,能量谱向左移动越明显...     

Cluster-assisted generation of multi-charged ions in nanosecond laser ionization of pulsed hydrogen sulfide beam at 1064 and 532nm

The multi-charged sulfur ions of S^q= (q\le 6) have been generated when hydrogen sulfide cluster beams are irradiated by a nanosecond laser of 1064 and 532,nm with an intensity of 10¹⁰\sim 10¹²W1\cdotcm^-2. S⁶⁺ is the dominant multi-charged species at 1064nm, while S⁴⁺, S³⁺ and S²⁺ ions are the main multi-charged species at 532nm. A three-step model (i.e., multiphoton ionization triggering, inverse bremsstrahlung heating, electron collision ionizing) is proposed to explain the generation of these multi-charged ions at the laser intensity stated above. The high ionization level of the clusters and the increasing charge state of the ion products with increasing laser wavelength are supposed mainly due to the rate-limiting step, i.e., electron heating by absorption energy from the laser field via inverse bremsstrahlung, which is proportional to \lambda ², \lambda being the laser wavelength.     

Thermonuclear fusion in a strong laser field

Thermonuclear fusion induced by the irradiation of solid deuterated cluster targets and foils with fields of strong femtosecond and picosecond laser pulses is discussed. The thermonuclear-fusion process D(d, n)³He in a collision of two deuterons at an energy of 50 to 100 keV in a deuterium cluster target irradiated with a strong laser pulse is discussed. A theory of thermonuclear fusion proceeding upon the irradiation of clusters formed by deuterium iodide (DI) molecules with the field of a superintense femtosecond laser pulse is developed. This theory is based on an above-barrier process in which the sequential multiple inner ionization of atomic ions within a cluster is accompanied by field-induced outer ionization. The yield of neutrons from thermonuclear fusion in a deuteron-deuteron collision after the completion of a laser pulse is calculated. The yield of neutrons is determined for the thermonuclear-fusion reaction proceeding in the interaction of an intense picosecond laser pulse with thin TiD₂ foils. A multiple ionization of titanium atoms at the front edge of the laser pulse is considered. The heating of free electron occurs in induced inverse bremsstrahlung in the process of electron scattering on multiply charged titanium ions. The yield of alpha particles in the thermonuclear-fusion reaction involving protons and ¹¹B nuclei that is induced in microdrops by a strong laser field is determined. Experimental data on laser-induced thermonuclear fusion are discussed.     

High-temperature field evaporation of rhenium

High-temperature field emission of Re, Pt, Ta, and W is studied by field-emission methods. Metal ions are found to evaporate mainly from the tops of thermal-field microprotrusions produced by high electric fields and temperatures on the emitter surface. For fi eld intensities of up to F=1–2 V/Å and temperatures of 1500–2000 K, the ion currents i are recorded from the entire emitter surface. They range from several tenths of nanoamperes to several nanoamperes. The activation energies of field evaporation determined from the Arrhenius plots logi=f(1/T) are found to be appreciably lower than those calculated within the charge exchange model for known parameters of the process and the metals evaporated. Reasons for such a difference in the activation energies and mechanisms of ion evaporation at high F and T are discussed.     

Probing strong field ionization of solids with a Thomson parabola spectrometer

Intense ultrashort laser pulses are known to generate high-density, high-temperature plasma from any substrate. Copious emission of hot electrons, from a solid substrate, results in strong electrostatic field that accelerates the ions with energies ranging from a few eV to MeV. Ion spectrometry from laser–plasma is convolved with multiple atomic systems, several charge states and a broad energy spread. Conventional mass spectrometric techniques have serious limitations to probe this ionization dynamics. We have developed an imaging ion spectrometer that measures charge/mass-resolved ion kinetic energies over the entire range. Microchannel plate (MCP) is used as the position-sensitive detector to perform online and single shot measurements. The well-resolved spectrum even for the low-energy ions, demonstrates that the spectral width is limited by the space-charge repulsion for the ions generated in the hot dense plasma.