Investigation of laser ablation plume dynamics by high-resolution time-resolved atomic absorption spectroscopy 1

The dynamics of neutral and singly ionized strontium, produced as minor components in the laser ablation of amorphous calcium carbonate chalk., have been investigated by space- and time-resolved atomic absorption spectroscopy. Absorption of a probe beam from a single-frequency cw dye laser was used to monitor the subject species at 420.7 nm ion.and 460.7 nm neutral.. Results including time-resolved absorption profiles, energy distributions and the effect of a cover gas are presented and discussed. q1998 Elsevier Science B.V.