Synthesis of Novel Thin-Film Materials by Pulsed Laser Deposition
Douglas H. Lowndes,
D. B. Geohegan,
A. A. Puretzky,
D. P. Norton,
C. M. Rouleau
Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) is a conceptually and experimentally
simple yet highly versatile tool for thin-film and multilayer research.
Its advantages for the film growth of oxides and other chemically
complex materials include stoichiometric transfer, growth from an
energetic beam, reactive deposition, and inherent simplicity for the
growth of multilayered structures. With the use of PLD, artificially
layered materials and metastable phases have been created and their
properties varied by control of the layer thicknesses. In situ
monitoring techniques have provided information about the role of
energetic species in the formation of ultrahard phases and in the
doping of semiconductors. Cluster-assembled nanocrystalline and
composite films offer opportunities to control and produce new
combinations of properties with PLD.
D. H. Lowndes, D. B. Geohegan, D. P. Norton, and C. M. Rouleau are
in the Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Post Office
Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6056, USA. A. A. Puretzky is at the
Institute of Spectroscopy, Russian Academy of Sciences, Troitsk,
Russia.
