Laser-induced desorption of gas from metallic surfaces

Abstract

The processes associated with the interaction of focused laser radiation and stainless‐steel targets suspended in a UHV chamber have been investigated. Plasma formation in the vicinity of the target surface was observed with increasing laser energy. Simultaneously, the laser‐induced desorption of gas increases by three orders of magnitude. The experimental results show that most of the gas is not released from the small laser‐illuminated area of the target but from the considerably larger surrounding surfaces of the vaccum chamber by impact of the rapidly expanding plasma cloud.