Excimer laser ablation of borocarbide targets

We report on the investigation of XeF excimer laser ablation of YNi2B2C target by energy selective time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ES-TOFMS). ES-TOFMS allows laser plume investigation by providing a direct measurement of the ions kinetic energy and, through the TOF measurement, their simultaneous mass identification. In particular, the composition and the kinetic energy of the emitted ions has been accomplished by means of TOF technique coupled with a 1600 electrostatic energy analyzer. The analysis of the charged species composition and kinetic energy has been performed at different laser fluences and in high vacuum conditions.