Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 February 2011
Transient process of laser ablation has been investigated by space/ time-resolved optical spectrometry. An excimer laser excitation on crystal surfaces of group IV elements produces highly excited microclusters of atoms which continue to absorb laser energy and begin to decompose in time scale of nanosecond. The spectral characteristics indicate that they are highly charged and decompose dominantly through ejections of neutral or singly charged monomers of constituent element rather than fragmentation into smaller clusters like a fission process.