Comprehensive study of the film surface temperature and plasma thermokinetics during La1.85Sr0.15CuO4 deposition by laser ablation

We report a comprehensive study of the film surface temperature (TS) variation during La1.85Sr0.15CuO4 deposition by laser ablation as a function of the process parameters (oxygen pressure and target-substrate distance). For high O2 pressures, TS (measured with an infrared pyrometer) follows a decreasing exponential law, while for lower oxygen pressures the experimental data suffer a departure from the theoretical curve. The observed deviation suggests the existence of nonsteady thermal processes in the plume during deposition. The modifications of plume kinetics along with the characterization of deposited films provide important information and a better understanding of the pulsed-laser deposition process.