Laser assisted modification and chemical metallization of electron-beam deposited ceria thin films

Excimer laser processing is applied for tailoring the surface morphology and phase composition of CeO2 ceramic thin films. E-beam evaporation technique is used to deposit samples on stainless steel and silicate glass substrates. The films are then irradiated with ArF* excimer laser pulses under different exposure conditions. Scanning electron microscopy, optical spectrophotometry, X-ray diffractometry and EDS microanalysis are used to characterize the non-irradiated and laser-processed films. Upon UV laser exposure there is large increase of the surface roughness that is accompanied by photo-darkening and ceria reduction. It is shown that the laser induced changes in the CeO2 films facilitate the deposition of metal nano-aggregates in a commercial copper electroless plating bath. The significance of laser modification as a novel approach for the production of CeO2 based thin film catalysts is discussed.