Eur. Phys. J. D 54, 467-472 (2009)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2009-00052-6

Al₂O₃ plasma production during pulsed laser deposition

¹ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Messina, Ctr. Papardo 31, 98166 S. Agata, Messina, Italy
² INFN-LNS e INFN-Sezione di Catania, V.S. Sofia 64, 95124 Catania, Italy
³ Dipartimento di Fisica della Materia e Ingegneria elettronica, Ctr. Papardo 31, 98166 S. Agata, Messina, Italy

Corresponding author: ^a fcaridi@unime.it

Received: 4 September 2008
Revised: 21 January 2009
Published online: 18 February 2009

Abstract

A Nd:YAG laser operating in second harmonic (532 nm), 3 ns pulse duration, 150 mJ pulse energy, and 10 Hz repetition rate, is employed to irradiate Al₂O₃ target placed in high vacuum. The produced plasma is investigated by an ion collector used in time-of-flight configuration and by a mass quadrupole spectrometer, in order to determine the equivalent plasma temperature and the atomic and molecular composition. Pulsed laser deposition technique has been used to produce thin films on different substrates placed close to the target. Different surface analyses, such as energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and surface profilometry are employed to characterize the produced films. Measurements of ablation yield, plasma equivalent temperature, acceleration voltage and characterization of grown thin films are presented and discussed.