Patterning of PLZT and PSZT thin films by excimer laser

The patterning of lanthanum-doped lead zirconate titanate (PLZT) and strontium-doped lead zirconate titanate (PSZT) thin films has been examined using a 5-ns pulsed excimer laser. Both types of film were deposited by rf magnetron sputtering with in situ heating and a controlled cooling rate in order to obtain the perovskite-structured films. The depth of laser ablation in both PSZT and PLZT films showed a logarithmic dependence on fluence. The ablation rate of PLZT films was slightly higher than that of PSZT films over the range of fluence (10-150 J/cm2) and increased linearly with number of pulses. The threshold fluence required to initiate ablation was ~?1.25 J/cm2 for PLZT and ~?1.87 J/cm2 for PSZT films. Individual squares were patterned with areas ranging from 10×10 µm2 up to 30×30 µm2 using single and multiple pulses. The morphology of the etched surfaces comprised globules which had diameters of 200-250 nm in PLZT and 1400 nm in PSZT films. The diameter of the globules has been shown to increase with fluence until reaching an approximately constant size at =?20 J/cm2 in both types of film. The composition of the films following ablation has been compared using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy