Pulsed laser deposition of multicomponent metal and oxide films

The processing variables in Pulsed Laser Deposition technique such as depos ition rate, ion concentration and kinetic ion energy are strongly determine d by the laser parameters, especially the laser wavelength and the laser po wer density. In this paper. results are presented on the investigation of t he pulsed plasma fluxes produced by six different lasers with wavelength ra nging from the UV (248 nm) to the IR (10.6 m). These results have been used to study the influence of the plasma parameters on the formation of alumin a (Al2O3) and multicomponent metal alloy (Cu-Mn-Ni) thin films. Oxide and m etal films with a very smooth, nearly defect- and droplet-free surface coul d be synthesized by the UV laser radiation. Also, a wavelength dependence o f the surface morphology of the deposited films was found out. Chemical com position, microhardness and elastic modulus of the films were determined an d correlated with the deposition conditions. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.