Influence of laser irradiation on the morphology of fractal electrodeposition

This work presents the effect of cw argon ion laser irradiation on far from equilibrium fractal growths from CuSO4 aqueous solutions in a quasi two-dimensional geometry. We find that the polarization orientation of the laser electric field influences the growth process. A laser electric field parallel to the field generated by the applied voltage causes an increase in the rate of the growth process. A slight inhibition of the process is observed when the two fields have crossed polarization. An interpretation based on the hypothesis of the polarization of the molecules and of the fractal growth caused by the laser electric field is given. A numerical simulation based on a perturbed diffusion model is shown to give results in agreement with the experimental data.