Highly Ionized Carbon Plasma Generation by Dual-Laser Ablation for Diamond-Like Carbon Film Growth

Carbon multicharged ion generation from laser-spark ion source

Multicharged carbon ions are generated by using a laser-assisted spark-discharge ion source. A Q-switched Nd:YAG laser pulse (1064 nm, 7 ns, ≤ 4.5 × 10⁹ W/cm²) focused onto the surface of a glassy carbon target results in its ablation. The spark-discharge (∼1.2 J energy, ∼1 µs duration) is initiated along the direction of the plume propagation between the target surface and a grounded mesh that is parallel to the target surface. Ions emitted from the laser-spark plasma are detected by their time-of-flight using a Faraday cup. The ion energy-to-charge ratio is analyzed by a three-mesh retarding field analyzer. In one set of experiments, the laser plasma is generated by target ablation using a 50 mJ laser pulse. In another set of experiments, ∼1.2 J spark-discharge energy is coupled to the expanding plasma to increase the plasma density and temperature that results in the generation of carbon multicharged ions up to C⁶⁺. A delay-generator is used to control the time delay between the laser pulse and the thyratron trigger. Ion generation from a laser pulse when a high DC voltage is applied to the target is compared to that when a spark-discharge with an equivalent pulsed voltage is applied to the target. The laser-coupled spark-discharge (7 kV peak voltage, 810 A peak current) increases the maximum detected ion charge state from C⁴⁺ to C⁶⁺, accompanied by an increase in the ion yield by a factor of ∼6 compared to applying 7.0 kV DC voltage to the target.

Multicharged carbon ion generation from laser plasma

Carbon ions generated by ablation of a carbon target using an Nd:YAG laser pulse (wavelength λ = 1064 nm, pulse width τ = 7 ns, and laser fluence of 10-110 J cm^-2) are characterized. Time-of-flight analyzer, a three-mesh retarding field analyzer, and an electrostatic ion energy analyzer are used to study the charge and energy of carbon ions generated by laser ablation. The dependencies of the ion signal on the laser fluence, laser focal point position relative to target surface, and the acceleration voltage are described. Up to C⁴⁺ ions are observed. When no acceleration voltage is applied between the carbon target and a grounded mesh in front of the target, ion energies up to ∼400 eV/charge are observed. The time-of-flight signal is analyzed for different retarding field voltages in order to obtain the ion kinetic energy distribution. The ablation and Coulomb energies developed in the laser plasma are obtained from deconvolution of the ion time-of-flight signal. Deconvolution of the time-of-flight ion signal to resolve the contribution of each ion charge is accomplished using data from a retarding field analysis combined with the time-of-flight signal. The ion energy and charge state increase with the laser fluence. The position of the laser focal spot affects the ion generation, with focusing ∼1.9 mm in front of the target surface yielding maximum ions. When an external electric field is applied in an ion drift region between the target and a grounded mesh parallel to the target, fast ions are extracted and separated, in time, due to increased acceleration with charge state.