Composition and dynamics of an erosion plasma produced by microsecond laser pulses

The ion and energy compositions were determined and the dynamics was studied of an erosion plume formed by microsecond CO₂ laser pulses incident on a graphite target. The ionic emission lines were used to find the electron density and temperature of the plasma on the target surface. The temperature of the plasma source did not change throughout the line emission time (4 μs). At the plasma recombination stage the lines of the C II, C III, and C IV ions were accompanied by bands of the C₂ molecule near the target surface and also near the surface of an substrate when a plasma flow interacted with it. Ways were found for controlling the plume expansion anisotropy and for producing plasma flows with controlled parameters by selection of the conditions during formation of a quasisteady erosion plasma flow.