<title>Advances in laser-ablation-assisted processes</title>

Abstract

Recent advances in hybrid technologies combining pulsed laser ablation with non-pulsed plasma sources are discussed. One was a deposition of multi phase materials made of nanocrystalline TiC, WC, WS<SUB>2</SUB>, and amorphous diamond-like carbon by a hybrid of laser ablation and magnetron sputtering. These phases were combined into layered and grain/matrix nano-composite materials, using the laser ablated plasma for low temperature synthesis of crystalline materials. Another was the production of AlON film by the laser ablation of Al<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB> accompanied by a nitrogen ion beam, where synergistic interaction between the two plasma sources provided the generation of chemically active NO molecules critical for the growth of AlON films. In both hybrid process, the high energy, excitation level, and short duration of the laser ablated plasma were the key factors that enabled production of material with composition, structure, and properties unobtainable by other deposition.