Plasma plume behavior of laser ablated cerium oxide: Effect of oxygen partial pressure

This paper describes the spatial and temporal investigation of laser ablated plasma plume of cerium oxide target using Langmuir probe. Cerium oxide target was ablated using a KrF (lambda similar to 248 nm) gas laser. Experimental studies confirmed that oxygen partial pressure of 2 x 10(-2) mbar is sufficient enough to get good quality films of cerium oxide. At this pressure, plume was diagnosed for their spatial and temporal behavior. Spatial distribution was investigated at a distance of 15 mm, 30 mm, and up to a maximum distance of 45 mm from the target, whereas temporal behavior has been recorded in the range of 0 to 50 mu S with an interval of 0.5 mu S. The average electron densities are found to be maximum at 30 mm from the target position and the plasma current of the laser ablated ceria is found to be maximum at 22 mu S.