The understanding of the stabilization process of Diesel spray flames is a key challenge because of its effect on pollutant emissions. In particular, the close relationship between lift-off length and soot production is now well established. However, different stabilization mechanisms have been proposed and are still under debate. The objective of this paper is to provide an experimental contribution to the investigation of these governing mechanisms. Combustion of a Diesel spray issued from a single-hole nozzle (90 mu m orifice, ECN spray A injector) was studied in a constant-volume precombustion vessel using a combination of optical diagnostic techniques. Simultaneous high frame rate (6kfps) schlieren, 355 LIF (excitation at 355 nm and maximum collection at 430 nm) and high-temperature chemiluminescence (collection from 400 nm to 490 nm) or OH* chemiluminescence (collection at 310 nm and frame rate at 60kfps) are respectively used to follow the evolution of the gaseous jet envelope, formaldehyde location and lift-off position. Additional experiments are performed where the ignition of the mixture is forced at a location upstream of the natural lift off position by laser-induced plasma ignition (at 1064 nm). The evolution of the lift-off position until its return to the natural steady-state position is then studied for different ambient temperatures (800 K to 850 K), densities (11 kg/m3 to 14.8 kg/m3) and rail pressures (100 MPa to 150 MPa) using the same set of optical diagnostics. The analysis of the evolution of the lift off position without laser ignition reveals two main types of behaviors: sudden jumps in the upstream direction and more progressive displacement towards the downstream direction. While the former is attributed to auto-ignition events, the latter is studied through the forced laser ignition results. It is found that the location of formaldehyde greatly impacts the return velocity of the lift-off position: if laser ignition occurs upstream of the zone where formaldehyde is naturally present, the lift-off position convects rapidly until it reaches the region where formaldehyde is present and then returns more slowly towards its natural position, suggesting that cool-flame products greatly assist lift-off stabilization. The average return velocity in this second stage depends on the operating conditions. (C) 2018 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.