Characterization of pulsed‐laser deposition plasmas using ion probes

The use of ion probes makes it possible to obtain information on local conditions in pulsed-laser deposition plasmas. Results are presented for KrF laser irradiation of bulk superconducting YBa2Cu3O72x and graphite targets in vacuum. The process is forward-directed, with the highest ion currents and velocities along the target normal. The ion velocity distribution can be well fitted with a Maxwell distribution centered on a flow velocity in the case of the superconductor. Ion energies increase linearly with incident laser energy and are approximately constant with distance along the target normal in the domains considered, but vary considerably for angles away from the target normal.