Two mechanisms of crater formation in ultraviolet-pulsed-laser irradiated SiO{sub 2} thin films with artificial defects
- Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, 250 East River Road, Rochester, New York 14623-1299 (United States)
Atomic force microscopy was employed to investigate the morphology of ultraviolet nanosecond-pulsed-laser damage in SiO{sub 2} thin films. Gold nanoparticles, 18.5-nm diameter, embedded in the film were used as calibrated absorbing defects. Damage-crater diameter, depth, and cross-sectional profiles were measured as a function of laser fluence and the lodging depth of gold nanoparticles. The results indicate that, at laser fluences close to the crater-formation threshold and for lodging depths of a few particle diameters, the dominating regime of the material removal is melting and evaporation. The morphology of craters initiated by deep absorbing defects, with a lodging depth larger than {approx}10 particle diameters, clearly points to a two-stage material-removal mechanism. The process starts with the material melting within the narrow channel volume and, upon temperature and pressure buildup, film fracture takes place. Crater-diameter variation with lodging depth and laser fluence is compared with theoretical predictions.
- OSTI ID:
- 20711734
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 97, Issue 11; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.1924878; (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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