The study of a crater forming on the surface of a Ti target submitted to multipulse excimer laser irradiation under low pressure N2

Abstract

Abstract A Ti target was submitted to laser ablation in low ambient pressure N2. Electron microscopy examination of the cross-section of the crater zone forming on the Ti target, and XPS analyses, indicate that there is a small effect on the nitridation processes taking place on and in the vicinity of the target. The studies show a zone influenced by the multipulse laser treatment extending beneath the crater down to a depth of the same order of magnitude as the crater depth (i.e. ∼ 10 μm). In this zone, TiN could be identified as being present only in traces, while the whole zone exhibited a layer structure with differences in morphology and mechanical wear.