MORPHOLOGY OF TIN COATING PRODUCED BY LASER-ABLATION

The morphology of TiN thin films on a steel surface produced by the pr ocess of laser ablation has been investigated. The process involves ma terial removal from a titanium target by means of an ultraviolet excim er pulse laser. Both the target and the steel substrate are in an ammo nia atmosphere and therefore the titanium atoms react with the nitroge n under the influence of a laser-induced plasma, and the product, whic h is TiN, is deposited on the surface of the steel. The investigation revealed that at the beginning of the process the TiN film is uniform; however, with increasing number of pulses, small micrometre-sized par ticles begin to appear on the surface and after a large number of puls es all the surface is covered with these particles.