Laser induced plasma plume imaging and surface morphology of silicon

Shot-to-shot variation in the characteristics of laser produced plasma plume and surface profile of N-type silicon (111) are investigated. In order to produce plasma, a Q-switched Nd: YAG laser (1064 nm, 10 mJ, 9-14 ns) is tightly focused on silicon target in air at room temperature. Target was exposed in such a way that number of laser shots was increased from point to point in ascending order starting from single shot at first point. Target was moved 2 mm after each exposure. In order to investigate shot-to-shot variation in the time integrated emission intensity regions within the plasma plume, a computer controlled CCD based image capture system was employed. Various intensity regimes were found depending strongly on the number of incident laser pulses. Plasma plume length was also found to vary with the number of pulses. The topographic analysis of the irradiated Si was performed by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) which shows the primary mechanisms like thermal or non-thermal ablation depend on the number of shots. Surface morphological changes were also studied in terms of ripple formation, ejection, debris and re-deposition of material caused by laser beam at sample surface. The micrographs show ripples spacing versus wavelength dependence rule [Lambda approximate to lambda/(1 - sin theta)]. Intensity variations with number of shots are correlated with the surface morphology of the irradiated sample. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.