Sorption in pulsed laser deposition of multicomponent materials: Experiment versus modeling

Deposition rate, elemental composition, and spatial distribution of both de position rate and of composition in the deposit were studied experimentally during the room temperature pulsed laser ablation of multicomponent target s of PbZr0.65Ti0.35O3, Bi2Sr2CuO6, and CuInSe2. Different material dependen t modes of behavior of the deposition rate, composition, and their spatial distribution were observed with increasing pressure of ambient gas (oxygen, argon). Comparison of the obtained experimental data with the results of t he previous modeling of pulsed laser deposition in a gas revealed a number of discrepancies. The possible reason for the discrepancies between the exp erimental observations and the model predictions was suggested to arise due to an assumption of the unit sticking probability of the species in the mo deling. Qualitative phenomenological analysis of the deposition process as a sorption of ablated species on the substrate surface was performed for th e studied multicomponent materials with respect to the nature and pressure of ambient gas. Good agreement between the experimental data and the conclu sions of such an analysis indicated considerable influence of sorption on t he deposition process. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979( 99)08117-7].