Laser ablation of titanium metallic targets: Comparison between theory and experiment

A model of plasma expansion with chemical kinetics has been developed and compared with the free flow model describing the laser ablation plume of metallic titanium target. Optical emission spectroscopy has been used to get time of flight (TOF) spectra. The measured shift between Ti and Ti+ TOF has been theoretically explained on the basis of recombination process. Particular attention has been also focused on the dependence of TOF’s on some plume parameters such as initial speed, temperature, pressure and plume extension.