Pulsed laser deposition of metals at target temperatures close to the melting point

Tin and bismuth metals are irradiated by KrF excimer laser pulses of fluences around 5 J/cm(2). Supressing the formation of surface inhomogeneities on the target is achieved by increasing the target temperature to close to its melting point. The characteristics of surface structures developed on targets ablated at room temperature and heated to approximately 40 degrees C below the melting point of the respective metal, are presented. Optical microscopy is used to follow the changes in the surface morphology of the deposited films, and especially in the surface number density of particulates. Approaching the melting point of the tin target resulted in a threefold decrease in surface number density of particulates, while for bismuth only a slight decrease was obtained. In the latter case, the anisotropic growth properties of bismuth precluded the effective smoothing of certain domains on the target surface, even at temperatures close to its melting point.