Spectroscopic analysis of electronically excited species in XeCl excimer laser-induced plasmas from the ablated high-temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O7

Optical spectroscopic analyses have been performed to study luminescence from plasmas produced by ablation of YBa2Cu3O7 single-phase high T/sub c/ bulk superconductors exposed to XeCl excimer laser (308 nm) pulses. Only excited atomic neutral and single ionized species (CuCu+, BaBa+, YY+) were observed within the experimental resolution of an optical multichannel analyzer detection system, when irradiating the targets in vacuum (∼10-5--10-4 Torr). Conspicuously absent in the spectra (300--800 nm range) are molecular emission bands that would appear if large excited molecules or fragments were present. Implications of the present results are discussed which relate to an early hypothesis about the laser ablation mechanism and their influence on high T/sub c/ film characteristics