Plasma analysis in the process of pulsed laser deposition of aluminium nitride and titan nitride thin films

Reactive pulsed laser ablation deposition of thin films is a technique which has already given good results for the formation of metal and semiconductor oxide and nitride films. To improve the quality of the deposited films it is important to understand the ablation process and the materials transport phenomena from the target to the collecting substrate. Optical emission spectroscopy of the plasma plume, formed by the interaction of the laser pulse with the target is generally used to try to understand the reaction mechanisms during the transport process. An eight speed camera was also used to determine plasma plume expansion velocity and the total duration of luminous emission of the plume. The effect of ambient pressure in the ablation chamber on the plasma composition was observed.