Spectroscopic studies of XeCl-laser-induced plasma on Ti targets in nitrogen containing atmospheres

This work deals with the study of a plasma produced by intense XeCl-excimer-laser irradiation of a titanium surface in nitrogen-containing atmospheres. We observed that the optical emission spectra resulting from irradiation of Ti targets in various ambient atmospheres (N₂, NH₃, N₂+H₂ mixtures) contain lines of atomic and ionized species of the irradiated target material only. The spectra are almost independent of the ambient atmosphere. The expansion velocities of atomic and ionic species in the plasma plume were obtained by time-of-flight measurements at different distances from the target. Mass spectrometry measurements are also performed at low background pressure to identify non-emitting species.