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Time resolved imaging studies of the plasma produced by laser ablation of silicon in O2/Ar atmosphere

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2005

S. TRUSSO
Affiliation:
CNR-Istituto per i Processi Chimico-Fisici, Sez. di Messina, Messina, Italy
E. BARLETTA
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica della Materia e Tecnologie Fisiche Avanzate, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy
F. BARRECA
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica della Materia e Tecnologie Fisiche Avanzate, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy
E. FAZIO
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica della Materia e Tecnologie Fisiche Avanzate, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy
F. NERI
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica della Materia e Tecnologie Fisiche Avanzate, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy

Abstract

The dynamics of the expansion plasma produced by excimer laser ablation of a silicon target into oxygen and mixed O2/Ar atmosphere were studied by means of time-resolved imaging of the expanding plume. Experiments were performed in pure oxygen, ranging between 0.13 and 13.33 Pa, and at different O2/Ar ratios at a fixed total pressure of 13.33 Pa. The occurrence of a shock wave (SW) generated by the supersonic expansion of the plasma was observed at high pressure values. The presence of the SW had a strong influence on the structure of SiOx thin films. In fact, silicon dioxide thin films were always obtained in presence of the SW, irrespective of the oxygen content in the gaseous mixture. On the contrary, suboxide thin films were obtained when the expansion occurred at lower pressure values (no SW presence). The temperature rise following the developing of the SW, is supposed to enhance the oxygen molecules dissociation by increasing the efficiency of the silicon oxidation reaction.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2005 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

This paper was presented at the 28th ECLIM conference in Rome, Italy.

References

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