Acquisition and Analysis of Titanium Monoxide Spectra in Plasma

The recent use of titania (TiO$_2$) nanoparticles for thin-film production has raised interest in the environment and properties of Ti containing particles in plasma. As a precursor to TiO$_2$ in rapidly cooling plasma, the titanium monoxide (TiO) molecule provides insight into the environment in which TiO$_2$ nanoparticles are produced. The spectral transitions of the TiO molecule have long been studied and observed by astronomers. We discuss our efforts in the calculation of predicted spectra for the TiO $\gamma$ ($A \, ^3\Phi - X \, ^3\Delta$), $\gamma^\prime$ ($B \, ^3\Pi - X \, ^3\Delta$), and E-X $\Delta v$=0 transitions as well as laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) as a technique for collecting time-resolved spectra. By nonlinear fitting to TiO molecular transitions measured in laser-induced plasma, computed spectra are used to infer the temperature of the observed TiO.