Advances in laser ablation assisted processes

Recent advances in hybrid technologies combining pulsed laser ablation with non-pulsed plasma sources are discussed. One was a deposition of multiphase materials made of nanocrystalline TiC, WC, WS2, and amorphous diamond-like carbon by a hybrid of laser ablation and magnetron sputtering. These phases were combined into layered and grain/matrix nanocomposite materials, using the laser ablated plasma for low temperature synthesis of crystalline materials. Another was the production of AlON film by the laser ablation of Al2O3 accompanied by a nitrogen ion beam, where synergistic interaction between the two plasma sources provided the generation of chemically active NO molecules critical for the growth of AlON films. In both hybrid processes, the high energy, excitation level, and short duration of the laser ablated plasma were the key factors that enabled production of materials with composition, structure, and properties unobtainable by other deposition methods.