Femtosecond pulsed laser deposition

This thesis investigates two variations of the conventional pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. The first technique is femtosecond PLD, whereby the laser used to ablate the target has a significantly higher peak intensity and shorter pulse duration as compared to conventional nanosecond lasers more commonly used for PLD. Experiments have been conducted on the growth of Nd:Gd is presented. Experimental results will show the composition and lattice parameter of a film can be controlled by changing the relative laser fluences on the two targets. Films have been grown with enough extra Ga to compensate for the deficiency that commonly occurs when depositing from only one Nd:GGG target