Measurement of the velocity distribution of ground state Mn atoms using resonance ionization

The velocity distribution of neutral Mn atoms lying in the ground state was measured by laser resonance ionization with the time-of-flight method. The amount of signal produced by resonance ionization is proportional to the desorption laser intensity. Using the model proposed by Singh and Narayan, we obtained a plasma temperature of about 18,000 K for the desorbed atoms. q2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.