Time-of-flight characterization of laser ablation plume from NbTe2 target in He atmosphere

Pulsed laser ablation of a NbTe2 target was performed by an excimer laser in helium atmosphere at different fluences. Ablation plume characterization was realized by optical Time-of-Flight spectroscopy. Velocities and kinetic energies of the ablated particles were determined as a function of the fluence and of the background pressure. We observed an increase of the velocity of Te2 molecules when increasing the helium pressure. We show that this effect is due to three bodies associative reactions between monoatomic Te species and background gas particles.