The spatial and temporal evolution of aluminum and aluminum monoxide produced during laser ablation of an aluminum sheet were tracked by way of emission and absorption spectroscopy. Atomic Al and molecular AlO temperatures were deduced from the emission spectroscopy data at several distances from the Al sheet surface. The atomic Al temperature was found to increase as a function of distance from the Al sheet surface and decrease over time. The molecular temperature of AlO remained approximately constant near the burning temperature of Al as a function of distance and time. The concentration of atomic Al was measured using absorption spectroscopy with peak concentrations ranging from 2.0×1018–1.2×1019 atoms/m3 as a function of distance from the Al sheet.
Find this article in full text from Scitation.