Influence of deposition parameters on composition and refractive index of femtosecond and nanosecond pulsed laser deposited gallium lanthanum oxysulphide

The influence of the deposition parameters on femtosecond and nanosecond pulsed laser deposited gallium lanthanum oxysulphide (GLSO) glass films has been investigated. A comparison between films deposited by femtosecond and nanosecond pulsed laser deposition (PLD) shows that the compositional range of each ablation regime varies significantly; in particular, femtosecond PLD shows a unique potential for selective fabrication of films with a high lanthanum content well outside the conventional glass-melting region. We demonstrate how manipulation of the PLD growth parameters can influence the stoichiometric transfer of the PLD process, leading to films with compositions that differ significantly from the GLSO target material. We also reveal how the refractive index of as-deposited films is dependent upon the composition and briefly discuss the thermal properties of bulk GLSO material of various compositions which indicate the potential for films grown by PLD to be used in optical data-storage device applications. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.