Thin-film surface temperature variations during pulsed laser deposition

We present new results on the variation of the La2-xSrxCuO4/LaSrGaO4 (100) film surface temperature, T, during pulsed laser deposition as a function o f O-2 pressure. For high O-2 pressure, T decreases with the number of laser pulses, following the exponential law of radiation absorption in a materia l. An important deviation from the theoretical law, of up to 10C, occurs at low O-2 pressures. Possible explanations of the film surface temperature v ariations are related to modifications in the plume thermo-kinetics.