Two-phase Zirconium Boride thin film obtained by ultra-short Pulsed Laser Ablation of a ZrB12 target.

Two-phase zirconium boride thin films have been obtained by ultra-short pulsed laser ablation (PLA) of azirconium dodecaboride (ZrB12) target performed in vacuum. The ablation source was a frequency dou-bled ( = 527 nm) Nd:glass laser with a pulse duration of 250 fs. Laser induced plasma has been studied byICCD imaging and time and space resolved optical emission spectroscopy (OES), whereas the depositedfilms have been characterized by atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-Ray diffrac-tion and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The film morphology and composition have been interpreted onthe basis of the laser ablation mechanism.