Diagnostics of cadmium plasma produced by laser ablation

Abstract

Optical measurements of the cadmium plasma produced by the fundamental, second, and third harmonics of a Nd:YAG laser are reported. The excitation temperature and ionic temperature have been determined from the Boltzmann plot and Saha equation, whereas the number density is estimated from the Stark broadened profile of the spectral lines. The variations in the excitation temperature and number density with the ambient air pressure as well as with the laser irradiance have been studied. Besides, the spatial distributions of the temperature and number density have been investigated.