Carbon ablation with ns lasers

In the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) the target material is ablated by irradiation with very intense laser light. The outstanding feature of the pulsed laser deposition is its potential for the very efficient preparation of films with complex composition or complex layer structures. PLD works with any target material, even with very small quantities, may fast switch between different targets and functions at arbitrary temperatures and in high vacuum or reactive atmospheres, as well. These general advantages, which for example are very valuable in the development of high-temperature superconductors of the YBaCuO type, are of less interest in the case of amorphous carbon films, made of only one element, in high vacuum and at low temperatures.