Gas-phase reactions during reactive laser ablation of Ti and Si in N2 and O2 rarefied atmospheres analysed using energy-dispersive mass spectrometry

We have utilised energy-dispersive mass spectrometry to investigate the energy and composition of ionic products formed during the pulsed laser ablation of Ti and Si targets. Specifically, we have observed the evolution of molecular ion species in backgrounds of O2 and N2 over a wide range of pressures (10−7–10−1 mbar). The yields of these species are significantly dependent upon the background gas pressure and, therefore, number density of the background species and the implied collisional frequency. We propose an interpretation of the relative yields of the species based upon their gas-phase binding energies and reaction cross-sections.