Deposition of particulate-free thin films by two synchronised laser sources:: effects of ambient gas pressure and laser fluence

The micrometer and sub-micrometer sized particulates present both on the surface and inside of pulsed laser deposited thin films and structures stand for the main drawback of the method in view of technological applications. We applied a two-laser system in order to withdraw the particulates in case of Ta and TaOx thin films. The Ta targets were irradiated by the first UV laser, while the second IR laser was directed parallel to the target surface, aiming to heat and evaporate the particulates. The morphology of the obtained thin films was studied by scanning electron microscopy For the TaOx films, the ambient gas pressure influences, besides the size and density of particulates, their propagation velocity. This in turn results in the variation of the optimum delay time between the ablating UV and the second IR laser pulse. For the Ta films we found that a threshold fluence of the IR laser pulse exists, above which completely particulate-free films were deposited. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.