Investigation of laser ablated plumes using fast photography

Fast photography is used to investigate the expansion dynamics of the laser ablated plasmas in various ambient atmospheres and laser energies. Dependence of plasma parameters such as velocity, temperature, density, and pressure on time and ambient atmosphere is presented. The measured vapor pressure and temperature decrease with the increase in ambient gas pressure. The images of the expanding plumes are used to locate the shocked region and hence to estimate the plasma parameters in the shocked regime. The calculated plasma parameters are used to optimize target-substrate distance, a key parameter for laser ablation deposition of thin films.