Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 1992
Laser diagnostic methods are developed and used to characterize the behavior of laser ablated zirconium carbide (ZrC). Emission from zirconium atoms dominates the total emission of the plasma plumes, which are estimated to have excitation temperatures of 9000 to 12,000 K under the conditions studied. Emission from species such as C, C2, and C3 were absent from the spectra due to the inherently low emission intensities of these species compared with that of Zr. Using a CCD camera, images of the plasma plumes are obtained from the emission and through the use of planar laser induced fluorescence of zirconium atoms.