PLASMA-OXYGEN INTERACTION DURING THIN FILMS DEPOSITION BY LASER ABLATION: DETERMINATION OF THE INTERACTION PRESSURE THRESHOLD AND EFFECT ON THE THIN FILMS PROPERTIESE

Abstract

In this contribution we study the effect of the oxygen pressure on the plasma dynamics during the ablation of oxides materials into an oxygen gas. The study was done using fast imaging and ion probe techniques. Both techniques revealed that a threshold oxygen pressure is needed to initiate the plume oxygen interaction. This threshold oxygen pressure depends on the ablated material. A clear effect of this threshold pressure on the structural and phase composition of the deposited thin films is shown.

Keywords

• Laser ablation, Plasma-oxygen interaction, Metal-insulator transition.