Interaction of ultraviolet laser with a silicon carbide plume produced by laser ablation

Formation mechanisms and expansion dynamics of silicon-carbon mixed cluster ions (SinCm+) in a laser-produced plasma plume produced by laser (λ=1064 nm) ablation of a SiC target in high vacuum were investigated by time-of-flight quadrupole mass spectrometry. Space- and time-resolved laser-plume interaction was examined by illuminating the plume with a time-delayed and line-focused. Ultraviolet laser pulse. Si2C was the dominant photodissociation product of silicon carbide cluster ions. Silicon-carbon mixed clusters turned out to be formed via association of atomic species in a region away from, not in front of, the target surface after a certain delay time.