Study of the gaseous phase from pulsed laser ablation of titanium carbide

The gaseous phase of laser ablated TiC target has been analyzed by time of flight mass spectrometry and optical emission spectroscopy. Various molecular clusters TinCm, with n ranging from 1 to 4 and m from 1 to 5, are observed and the excited atoms emission spectrum is determined, together with the electronic temperature of the plume. The angular distribution of the material ejected from the target is also discussed.