Extreme ultraviolet spectral characteristic analysis of highly charged ions in laserproduced Cu plasmas

This paper reports the results of spectral measurements and a theoretical analysis of the temporal and spatial evolution of laser-produced Cu plasma in vacuum in the range of 8–14 nm.The time dependence of the extreme ultraviolet band spectrum at different positions near the target surface was obtained and found to be dominated by three broad-band features.The 3p and 3d excitations of Cu5+–Cu9+ions were calculated using the Hartree–Fock theory with configuration interactions.The characteristics of the spectral line distribution for the 3p–nd and 3d–nf transition arrays were analyzed.Based on the steady-state collisional radiation model and the normalized Boltzmann distribution,the complex spectral structure in the band of 13–14 nm is accurately explained through consistency comparisons and benchmarking between the experimental and theoretical simulation spectra,demonstrating that the structure mainly stems from the overlapping contribution of the 3d–4f and 3p–3d transition arrays for the Cu5+–Cu9+ions.These results may help in studying the radiation characteristics of isoelectronic series highly-charged ions involving the 3d excitation process.

Influence of heating effect in Thomson scattering diagnosis of laser-produced plasmas in air

A state diagnosis of laser-produced plasma in air generated by a 1064 nm pulse laser was investigated by the Thomson scattering(TS)method.The evolutions of the electron temperature and electron density were obtained as a function of the time delay which ranged from 300-3200 ns.The heating effect produced by the 532 nm probe beam with different energies on the air plasma at different interaction times was further studied using a time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy technique.The influence of the probe beam on the electron density was found to be negligible,whereas its influence on electron temperature is evident.In addition,the heating effect of the probe beam on the plasma strongly depends on the energy of the probe beam,and gradually weakens with increasing time delay.Our results are helpful for further understanding the TS method and its application in plasma diagnostics.

Measurement and analysis of the extreme ultraviolet emission band of laser-produced antimony plasmas

The temporal evolution of extreme ultraviolet(EUV)emission spectra of laser-produced antimony(Sb)plasmas has been measured in the 7-16 nm wavelength region using spatio?temporally resolved lase-produced plasma spectroscopy technique.The spectral profiles involve an intense quasi-continuous band with superimposed intense characteristic radiation and are different with the increase of delay time.The spectral structures were also analyzed according to Hartree-Fock calculations with configuration interaction effects and contributed from 4d^4/;4d-4p,and 4d-5f unresolved transition arrays of Sb7*-Sb131.A steady-state collisionalradiative model was used to estimate the electron temperature and density range of Sb plasmas.This work would enrich the spectral data of highly-charged ions and provided a possible selection for developing EUV light sources.

Analysis of extreme ultraviolet spectra of laser-produced Cd plasmas

In order to provide detailed information about Cd structure and gain more insight regarding ionization degrees and types of transition,as well as the understanding of the temporal evolution behavior of laser produced Cd plasmas,extreme ultraviolet spectra of laser-produced cadmium(Cd)plasmas have been measured in the 8.4-12 nm region using spatiotemporally resolved laser-produced plasma spectroscopy technique.Spectral features were analyzed by the Hartree-Fock(HF)method with relativistic correlations(HFR)using the Cowan code.The results showed that the 4p-5s resonance transition arrays from Cd^9+to Cd^13+merged to form intense lines in this spectral region.A number of new spectral features from Cd^9+and Cd^10+ions are reported in this study.Based on the assumption of a normalized Boltzmann distribution among the excited states associated with a steady-state collisional-radiative model,the plasma parameters were obtained by comparing the experimental and simulated spectra.As a result,we succeeded in reproducing the synthetic spectra for different time delays,which yielded good agreement with the experiments.The temporal evolution behaviors of electron temperature and electron density of plasma were also analyzed.

Numerical simulation of nanosecond laser ablation and plasma characteristics considering a real gas equation of state

Based on the governing equations which include the heat conduction equation in the target and the fluid equations of the vapor plasma,a two-dimensional axisymmetric model for ns-laser ablation considering the Knudsen layer and plasma shielding effect is developed.The equations of state of the plasma are described by a real gas approximation,which divides the internal energy into the thermal energy of atoms,ions and electrons,ionization energy and the excitation energy of atoms and ions.The dynamic evolution of the silicon target and plasma during laser ablation is studied by using this model,and the distributions of the temperature,plasma density,Mach number related to the evaporation/condensation of the target surface,laser transmissivity as well as internal energy of the plasma are given.It is found that the evolution of the target surface during laser ablation can be divided into three stages:(1)the target surface temperature increases continuously;(2)the sonic and subsonic evaporation;and(3)the subsonic condensation.The result of the internal energy distribution indicates that the ionization and excitation energy plays an important role in the internal energy of the plasma during laser ablation.This model is suitable for the case that the temperature of the target surface is lower than the critical temperature.

Effect of dielectronic recombination on charge-state distribution in laser-produced plasma based on steady-state collisional-radiative models

Armed with four different steady-state collisional-radiative(CR) models,we investigated the effect of dielectronic recombination(DR) on the charge-state distribution in laser-produced silicon plasma. To assess this effect,we performed a series of temporally resolved spectra of highly charged Si ions in the extreme ultraviolet region.Ab initio calculations of the DR rate coefficients were done for Si^(6+)–Si^(4+) ions. We also analyzed the evolution of the collisional ionization, radiative recombination, three-body recombination, photo-ionization, and DR rate coefficients as a function of electron temperature. The electron temperature and electron density for different delay times were obtained by comparing the normalized experimental and simulated spectra. The ion fraction and average charge state from the four different CR models were also obtained. The results indicate that the DR process has a greater influence in the stage of plasma evolution that cannot be neglected in plasma diagnoses.