Femtosecond Pulsed Laser Deposition of Nanostructured CdS Films

Abstract

In this work, we report an investigation of the properties of nanostructured deposits obtained from femtosecond pulsed laser deposition of CdS sintered targets. Specifically, we address the effects of laser irradiation wavelength, laser fluence, and substrate temperature (from 25 to 450 °C). The composition of the deposits was characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), their crystallinity by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the surface morphology was studied by environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). It has been found that the smallest nanoparticles, with an average diameter of 25 nm and a narrow size distribution, together with particulates in the range of 80−120 nm, are obtained at the shortest laser wavelength of 266 nm on room-temperature substrates. Deposits do not contain microscopic droplets in any of the explored conditions.