Spectroscopic investigation of the technique of plasma assisted pulsed laser deposition of titanium dioxide

The characterization of plasma assisted pulsed laser deposition (PA-PLD) of titanium dioxide with biased substrate is discussed. Both the stage of plasma expansion and deposition have been studied. Optical emission spectroscopy was employed to estimate laser-induced plasma parameters, while different techniques [optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), spectrophotometry, X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS)] were used to characterize the film properties. It is shown that PA-PLD prevents contamination of the deposited films by particles ejected during the interaction of the KrF excimer laser radiation with the titanium dioxide targets. Investigation made on the film deposited by conventional PLD and PA-PLD, has shown that the PA-PLD technique allows to improve the quality of the deposited films for what concerns their stoichiometry, morphology and deposition rate.