Fast imaging of laser ablation of cerium: Dependence of plasma plume dynamics and structure on native oxide growth

What is it about?

The work describes the imaging and analysis of the laser ablation of polished cerium as function of oxidation time in air. We find that the behavior and structure of the laser ablated plasma plume is clearly dependent on the presence of the native oxide even at early times (less than 10 hours of exposure).

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Photo by Paulo Carrolo on Unsplash

Photo by Paulo Carrolo on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This work adds substantially to the existing literature by (1) providing highly detailed images of plasma expansion in air that reveal previously unidentified internal features and (2) linking plasma expansion qualitatively and quantitatively to the growth of cerium surface oxide that significantly alters these features. Using fast imaging of laser ablation as a strategy to sensitively measure material surface modification has the potential to be widely adopted.