Plume-induced stress in pulsed-laser deposited CeO2 films

Residual compressive stress due to plume-induced energetic particle bombard ment in CeO2 films deposited by pulsed-laser deposition is reported. For la ser ablation film growth in low pressures, stresses as high as 2 GPa were o bserved as determined by substrate curvature and four-circle x-ray diffract ion. The amount of stress in the films could be manipulated by controlling the kinetic energies of the ablated species in the plume through gas-phase collisions with an inert background gas. The film stress decreased to near zero for argon background pressures greater than 50 mTorr. At these higher background pressures, the formation of nanoparticles in the deposited film was observed. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)04215- 1].