EFFECTS OF INVERSE BREMSSTRAHLUNG IN LASER-INDUCED PLASMAS FROM A GRAPHITE SURFACE

The kinetic energy of electrons emitted due to laser interaction with a graphite surface was studied with a time-of-flight spectrometer. In addition the yields of carbon atomic and molecular ions were measured as a function of laser pulse energy. Pulse energy thresholds for ion emission are observed to correlate with the observed maximum electron energies. Furthermore, the data suggest that ionic carbon clusters can be dissociated by energetic electrons or photons created in the plasma. We believe that initially photoemitted electrons are accelerated by inverse bremsstrahlung to the energies required for electron impact ionization and dissociation