Abstract :
The pulsed laser ablation of titanium, zirconium and hafnium carbides has been performed by a Nd:glass laser with a pulse
duration of 250 fs. The gaseous phase produced from the ablation has been analysed by emission spectroscopy and ICCD
imaging. The results evidence large differences in the plasma characteristics in the case of femtosecond or nanosecond ablation.
In particular, in the femtosecond and nanosecond plumes, the energy and the velocity of neutral and ionised particles are very
different. The ablation mechanism seems to be very different, including, in the case of femtosecond ablation, the delayed
emission from the target of large and slow particles. The morphology of the deposited films is clearly related to the
characteristics of the plasma. Preliminary results show a morphology consisting of a large number of spherical particles with
diameters ranging from 50 to 200 nm
