Comparison of the structure of laser deposited and sputtered metallic alloys

The structure of metallic elements and alloy thin films grown by pulsed KrF laser deposition was examined by X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy, and compared with results on triode sputtered films. While, in general, the obtained phases and structures are similar, laser ablated films often exhibit smaller grain sizes, enlarged lattice parameters in the growth direction, larger extensions of the single-phase regions and sometimes a better alignment of the grains. It can be concluded, that often laser deposited metallic material is in a state further away from equilibrium than after preparation by classical thin film techniques. The differences can be explained by the 105–106 times higher momentary deposition rate of the pulsed laser ablation process.