Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) is a powerful method to grow thin films and multilayers of complex materials.
It consists of a target holder and a substrate holder housed in a vacuum chamber. A high-power laser is used as an external energy source to vaporize materials and grow thin films. A set of optical components is used to focus and raster the laser beam over the target.
The distinct advantage of PLD include its simplicity of use, since the laser is totally decoupled from the growth chamber, and the ability to preserve the stoichiometry of compound materials. The deposited film has the same chemical structure as the target material.
The second advantage makes this technique so flexible that is easily adaptable to different operational modes without the constraints imposed by the use of internally powered evaporation sources. The last advantage has make PLD an effective method for synthesizing thin films of complex composition.
Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) is a powerful method to grow thin films and multilayers of complex materials.
