Up-converted emission observed from hybrid inorganic:organic composite thin film generated via laser assisted molecular beam deposition

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, YBa₂Cu₃O_7-x and organic doped TiO₂ and Al₂O₃ 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. Recently a successful program has been undertaken to show the potential of LAMBD to generate photonic films. Work done on up-conversion of IR light into the visible using LAMBD generated composite TiO₂:APSS films will be described. These results demonstrate the potential of using LAMBD sources as a means of depositing a variety of high quality photonic films.