Monte Carlo simulations of plume evolution from laser ablation of graphite and barium titanate

Evolution of laser ablation products from graphite and barium titanate targets has been simulated using a Monte Carlo method, assuming elastic collisions. The calculated species arrival times and intensities, at a hypothetical detection plane, compare favorably with those obtained experimentally by time-resolved mass spectrometric sampling of the expanded vapor plumes. As such experiments are difficult to perform, the simulation method should prove useful for unstudied systems in defining the spatial and temporal distributions of species arriving for example, at a film deposition substrate.