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The plume generated by ablation of hydroxyapatite targets under ArF excimer laser irradiation has been investigated by means of fast intensified charge coupled device (CCD) imaging and optical emission spectroscopy. Results have shown that the plume splits into two plasma clouds as it expands. Time and spatial resolved spectra have revealed that under the experiment conditions emission is mostly due to calcium neutral atoms and calcium oxide molecular radicals. Imaging of the plume with the aid of bandpass filters has demonstrated that the emissive species in the larger and faster plasma cloud are calcium neutral atoms whereas in the smaller and slower one are calcium oxide molecular radicals. Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) is a good technique to deposit thin films of complex compounds, and many authors 1‐6 have used it to obtain hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings for medical prostheses. This motivated us to study the HA laser ablation process through the characterization of the plume by fast intensified CCD imaging. 7,8 The resultant pictures of the plasma generated by ArF excimer laser irradiation of HA targets revealed the presence of two different emissive regions. Thus, in this paper we develop a more comprehensive analysis of the HA laser ablation plume by means of time and space resolved optical emission spectroscopy

ArF excimer laser pulses (193 nm, 20 ns, 150 mJ) have been focused on a hydroxyapatite (HA) target in similar conditions to those normally used for thin film deposition. Fast intensified CCD images of HA laser ablation plumes have been taken in vacuum and under different water vapor pressures ranging from 0.01 mbar to 1 mbar. Images of HA ablation in vacuum have shown a plume freely expanding at a constant velocity of 2.3 × 106 cm/s. HA ablation under a water vapor pressure of 0.01 mbar has revealed an expansion behavior very similar to that of ablation in vacuum. Images taken under a water vapor pressure of 0.1 mbar have shown the formation of a shock structure in the plume. Finally, HA ablation under a water vapor pressure of 1 mbar has revealed the development of some irregularities in the shape of the plume.