Pulsed UV laser induced desorption of ions from aluminum

A study of pulsed UV laser induced desorption (LID) has been performed on an Al(111) sample. The positive ion desorption was investigated at low laser fluence, in a regime in which the ion yield exhibits a highly non-linear dependence on the laser fluence. The peak of the kinetic energy distribution of the desorbed ions has been measured to be about 15 eV. This result is consistent with the conjecture that the ion departing the metal surface can acquire a kinetic energy kick from a process associated with plasmon annihilation. The Al+ ion kinetic energy peak is asymmetric and about 3 eV full-width at half-maximum (FWHM). This experiment indicates that plasmon excitation can play a significant role in laser stimulated desorption induced by electronic transitions (DIET).