Enhanced laser crystallization of thin film amorphous molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) by means of pulsed laser ultrasound

Abstract

Experimental evidence is presented that pulsed laser generated ultrasound can reduce the power necessary to phase convert a nm-scale amorphous film into the crystalline phase. The amount of energy carried by pulsed ultrasound is scant when compared to the CW laser power used to crystallize but the effect is substantial. The evidence points to the extra-ordinary effects possible when a small energy perturbation is applied at a critical juncture in dynamical systems. The candidate system is MoS₂ (10 nm) sputtered on yttrium-stabilized zirconia single crystal substrate. A focused CW laser elevates the film - initially in a metastable disordered phase - to the order-disorder conversion (crystallization) temperature. Approximately 25 spot sizes removed from the heating source is a second, high repetition rate laser that induces ultrasonic excitation within the film/substrate via thermoelastic action. The processing is done on a moving stage with direct write patterning control. High resolution ex situ Raman spectroscopy, optical profilometry, and TEM are used to characterize the converted material. For this experimental configuration, we measure a 10% reduction in the heating power required to initiate crystalline formation. The measured phenomenon cannot be attributed to excess thermal energy supplied by the ultrasonic laser.