EXCIMER LASER ABLATION OF A YBA2CU3O7-DELTA TARGET IN A VACUUM - CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MASS AND ENERGY OF EJECTED MATERIAL

A quadrupole mass spectrometer has been used to measure the mass and energy distributions of neutral material ejected in the laser vaporization of a YBa2CU3O7-delta target in vacuum under geometry and laser conditions relevant to the pulsed laser deposition for film growth. All metal atoms as well as common metal oxides were observed. The time-of-flight (TOF) energy distributions showed large populations of species having energies between 10 and 100 eV. The shapes of the TOF energy spectra did not lend themselves to the application of simple models for the event.