Evidence of a nonthermal mechanism for ejection of ions and neutrals during excimer laser ablation of Ge

The use of time of flight mass spectrometry, along with resonance ionization spectroscopy, aids the examination of the ejection of ions and neutrals from a Ge-solid target irradiated with ultraviolet XeCl excimer laser pulses. The ions and neutrals are ejected through a nonthermal mechanism, as is indicated by the ejection at temperatures less than the melting point of the target. In the ground state, the velocities of the ejected neutrals is 3 times 10 to the 4th power cm/s.