Pulsed laser deposition of carbon films: Dependence of film properties on laser wavelength

We have grown thin carbon films by pulsed laser deposition and have investigated the extent to which the properties of such films, as well as the processes responsible for these properties, are laser wavelength dependent. Films were grown by ablating material from a graphite target onto room temperature Si(100) substrates with 1064 and 248 nm laser radiation. The films were analyzed byin situ electron energy loss spectroscopy and byex situ Raman spectroscopy. The results indicated that films grown with 1064 nm ablation were graphitic, while those grown with 248 nm radiation were diamond-like. We have also examined the mass and kinetic energy distributions of the particles ejected from graphite by the two laser wavelengths. The results indicated that irradiation of graphite with 1064 nm laser radiation results in the ejection of a series of carbon cluster ions C _n ⁺ (1 ≤ n ≤ 30) with mean kinetic energies less than 5 eV. Ablation of graphite with 248 nm radiation results in the ejection of primarily C ₂ ⁺ and C ₃ ⁺ with mean kinetic energies of 60 and 18 eV, respectively. These results suggest that large, low energy clusters produce graphitic films, while small, high energy clusters produce films of diamond-like carbon.