Laser processing of nitrides and carbides of titanium and semiconducting thin films

A laser physical vapor deposition system was designed and developed. The major component parts are described. Two substrate and target holder assemblies were designed and developed. One to perform single layer thin film depositions. The second substrate and target holder assembly was designed to be multi-functional and to deposit up to four different composition layers. A detailed description of both assemblies is given. A detailed description of the beam delivery system and the laser energy density determination at the target surface are also given.; A theoretical model for deposition of thin films is given based on experimental results of the laser evaporation technique. This model predicts the vapor-plasma temperature and pressure. The physical vapor spatial deposition profile results are given for an elliptical ablation spot on the target surface. The results show that the physical vapor beam is highly directional.; Experimental results are given for polycrystalline TiN films on silicon substrates, and results are given for TiN epitaxial films grown on MgO substrates. It is shown that the laser evaporation technique can produce high quality low impurity content films at low deposition temperatures (25 to 500{dollar}spcirc{dollar}C).; Experimental results for laser multi-step in-situ single chamber processing are described. The initial stages of epitaxial growth of germanium on laser cleaned silicon substrates have been investigated. The results of single chamber multilayer processing of structures of TiN, TiC and Ti on silicon substrates are described.