Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) — an advanced state for technical applications

Differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells using metal oxide thin films

“…Note that these values are significantly lower (by 2-3 orders of magnitude) than those usually obtained with commonly used magnetron sputtering or chemical vapor deposition methods[20,38]. This confirms that PLD is a fast, efficient, reproducible and most appropriate technique for producing smooth and well-controlled oxide films[35,39]. We also note that the rms values are very similar between the film series (among more than 100 of the samples tested) and that all films have grain size from 90-110 nm, leading to an average of less than 100 nm.…”

“…Taking into account the number of laser pulses during the growth (fixed at 5000), the deposition rate (i.e. the thickness of the layer material deposited per pulse) is calculated to be equal to 0.03-0.04 Å/pulse (=(150-200 Å)/5000 laser pulses), confirming very precise control of the thickness, which is another advantage of the PLD technique [35].…”

“…Thin films were deposited on glass substrates using the PLD technique [35]. Briefly, this technique uses high-power laser (KrF excimer laser, with λ = 248 nm, with a laser fluence close to 2 J cm −2 and a laser frequency of 5 Hz) pulses to melt, evaporate and ionize the material from the surface of a target (here TiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 ceramics prepared by a standard solid-state route).…”