PLD / Pulsed Laser Deposition
Pulsed laser deposition is achieved by laser irradiation of a bulk material (target), creation and expansion of plasma in the free space, and deposition of a thin film of the material on a nearby substrate. Successive laser pulses deposit small amounts of the target material on the substrate until a thin film is grown. The thickness of the film depends on the number of pulses. Deposition can happen in vacuum or in the presence of a gas, e.g., O2, N2, for the deposition of oxides, nitrides, etc. The use of multiple targets allows multi-layer deposition. The home-built PLD workstation offered by Innovation-el operates with a high-vacuum chamber and a pulsed Nd:YAG laser system. Deposition can be performed on various substrates, such as glass, silicon, plastic, etc. The substrates can be heated up to 400oC during deposition.
