Spatial and Temporal Behaviors of Copper Atoms and Ions in Laser-induced Plasma

Key words: 
• laser ablation /
• laser-induced plasma /
• vapor breakdown /
• excitation /
• ionization

Abstract: By observing the optical emissions from copper plasma induced by laser ablationof a copper target, the dynamics of the plasma and the temporal and spatial behaviors of the plasma species are examined. The plasma is ignited from target ablation, evolves from the breakdown of the copper vapor to collisions between copper particles and energetic electrons. At the initial stage, the plasma contains large amount of copper ions and high-excited copper atoms, and then evolves to have low-energy copper...