Formation of metallic colloids in CaF₂ by intense ultraviolet light

Highest purity CaF2 single crystals are irreversibly modified when irradiated with millions of pulses of 193 nm light at fluences of 120 mJ/cm(2). Mie theory explains the observed haze by attributing the wavelength dependent extinction and the ratio between absorption and scattering to metallic colloids with radii in the range of 20 to 30 nm and a fractional volume of up to 2.8 . 10(-7). Non-contact scanning force microscopy (NC-AFM) measurements performed on a surface produced by in-vacuo cleavage reveals that laser irradiation additionally produces a 10(4) times higher volume density of colloids with a radius of 1 to 2 nm. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3673301