Study of laser-deposited metallic thin films by a combination of high-resolution ex situ and time-resolved in situ experiments

Laser-deposited metallic alloys and multilayers were studied in detail by a combination of high-resolution ex situ and time-resolved in situ experimen ts. The purpose of these experiments is to better understand the special pr operties of laser-deposited metallic films in comparison with conventionall y prepared thin films. During deposition, thick ness, resistance, and elect ron diffraction (THEED) experiments show that the film surface is resputter ed, local mixing at the interfaces of multilayers on a nanometre scale occu rs, and metastable phases up to large film thicknesses are formed. After de position, a compressive stress of 1-2 GPa was measured using four-circle di ffractometry, and growth defects were observed on an atomic scale by electr on microscopy (HRTEM) and field ion microscopy (FIM). The obtained structur al details of the metallic films can be explained by an implantation model for the laser deposition process.