Progress in thin film formation by laser assisted molecular beam deposition (LAMBD)

Laser assisted molecular beam deposition (LAMBD) is a pulsed laser ablation technique which utilizes a train of gas pulses to precisely control the chemistry and transport of species to be deposited on a substrate. The LAMBD technique has been used to grow films on a variety of substrates and to ablate a variety of target materials including: metals, metal oxides, metal halides, Si, C and SiC. In addition, a variety of more complex composite films such as Cu embedded polymers, YBa ₂ Cu ₃ O _7-x and organic doped TiO ₂ and Al ₂ O ₃ have also been produced. These films have been analyzed by Raman scattering, SEM, EDX, FTIR, ESCA, NMR, mass spectrometry and surface profile measurements to determine film structure and composition. Recent progress on source characterization by emission spectroscopy and a new source design will also be presented. These results demonstrate the potential of using LAMBD sources as a means of depositing a variety of high quality single and multiple component films.