The effects of substrate temperature and laser wavelength on the formation of carbon thin films by pulsed laser deposition

Amorphous carbon films and diamond-like carbon films were grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) using different laser wavelengths (λ=193, 532 and 1064 nm) and substrate temperatures (ranging from room temperature to 500 °C). The morphology of the film surface was observed using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The mechanisms of film growth using laser wavelengths of 1064, 532 and 193 nm are explained qualitatively to be surface growth, subsurface growth accompanied with migration of the penetrating species to the film surface, and subsurface growth, respectively, using the subplantation model.