Peculiarities and potentialities of ultra-short pulsed laser deposition for the production of magnetic nanogranular films

Pulsed laser deposition is a technique used since twenty years ago for the production of nanoparticles films. Laser pulses with a duration in the femtosecond, picosecond and nanosecond range have been employed for material processing as well as for ablation and deposition of semiconductors, superconductive materials, ceramics, magnetic layers and multilayers. Recently, results on the ultra-short pulsed laser deposition (uPLD) revealed this technique as particularly interesting for the deposition of magnetic nanogranular films. This review deals with the innovative findings and the potential developments related to the use of uPLD. The following points are addressed: first, the peculiar shape and orientation of the nanoparticles in the films obtained by the uPLD technique; second, the capability of uPLD to reproduce the stoichiometry in target material in the deposited film; third, the possibility to produce nanogranular amorphous film from polycrystalline target; fourth, the potentiality of uPLD in tailoring the magnetic softness of the film by means of a co-deposition of hard and soft magnetic nanoparticles. Finally, we briefly discuss the potential applications of the uPLD in the production of composite nanogranular films with interesting performances for improved magnetostrictive and magnetoresisitive micro-devices