Analysis of surface damage and plasma properties of pulsed laser ablation of GaAs

The surface morphological changes produced by Nd:YAG pulsed laser ablation of GaAs are examined and analyzed with scanning electron microscope. The periodic structure on the irradiated surface is explained by the transverse surface acoustic wave theory. The dispersed emission was detected by a 10 ns gated, image-intensified optical multi-channel analyzer. The time-of-flight spectra exhibit the twin-peak structures of Ga atoms that can be explained by the recombination process. The experimental results show that the characteristics of the species in plasma are strongly influenced by the ambient pressure.