Aluminum Monoxide Emission Measurements in a Laser-Induced Plasma

We report temperature inferences from time-resolved emission spectra of a micro-sized plasma following laser ablation of an aluminum sample. The laser-induced breakdown event is created with the use of nanosecond pulsed laser radiation. Plasma temperatures are inferred from the aluminum monoxide spectroscopic emissions of the aluminum sample by fitting experimental to theoretically calculated spectra with a nonlinear fitting algorithm. The synthetic spectra used as a comparison for the experimental spectra are generated from accurate line strengths of aluminum monoxide bands. The inferred plasma temperatures are found to be 5315 +/- 100 K at 20 mu s following breakdown. At later time delays of 45 and 70 mu s following breakdown, the plasma temperatures are found to be 4875 +/- 95 and 4390 +/- 80 K, respectively. Error analysis of the inferred temperatures is performed with the fitting algorithm.