ROTATIONAL AND TRANSLATIONAL TEMPERATURE OF SiO+ IONS
PRODUCED BY LASER ABLATION OF Si IN OXYGEN GAS

Yukari Matsuo*, Tohru Kobayashi*, Takashi Nakajima#, and Michio Takami*

*The Institute of Phsical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Saitama 351-0198, Japan
#Institute of Advanced Energy, Kyoto University, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan

We have studied laser-induced fluorescence spectra of SiO+ produced by laser ablation 
of a Si sample in oxygen ambient gas.  The rotational temperature determined from the 
relative intensities of rotationally-resolved lines shows rapid thermalization toward 
room temperature within 20 us.  The translational temperature is analyzed from the Doppler 
width of spectral lines, indidating relatively slow thermarization in the order of 100 us.