Pulsed Laser Deposition System

The system allows the fabrication of thin films of a specified stoichiometric or supersaturated composition with thicknesses ranging from a few nanometers to a few micrometers, on a variety of substrates (metallic, ceramic, polymeric). Substrates can be well-defined monocrystals or polycrystals and polymers with appropriate surface roughness. The resulting layers, depending on the deposition parameters and the quality of the substrates used, can be epitaxial, nanocrystalline, polycrystalline, and even amorphous. To produce thin films, pulses of light from the ultraviolet range (248 nm) are used, which, as a result of interaction with the surface of the target, cause its sputtering in the working chamber (laser ablation). A deposition is performed with an excimer pulsed laser, with an operating frequency in the range of 1-100 Hz. The layer-forming discs can be any material (metals, non-metals, oxides, ceramics, etc.). In addition to the laser, the thin film deposition system is equipped with a reaction vacuum chamber with the possibility of using gas atmospheres (oxygen, nitrogen, and argon), a loading chamber, and an RHEED measurement system. Precise gas dosing makes it possible to obtain layers enriched or depleted in chosen element (for example oxygen). The magnitude of the achieved vacuum in the working chamber is about 10-8 mbar. The use of a six-station moving disc carousel makes it possible to obtain multilayers (e.g., LSMO/BTO/LSMO, MgO/TiN) in a single process, avoiding contamination of layer surfaces. The substrates are transported from the loading airlock under high vacuum to the working chamber. In this chamber, they can be radiatively heated to 850 °C. The heating and cooling speeds are digitally controlled with an accuracy of 1 °C. Using the RHEED technique, it is possible to study in situ the crystal structure and growth kinetics of thin films.