In situ mechanical spectroscopy of laser deposited films using plasma plume excited reed

Abstract

We show a new approach to in situ measure the mechanical properties of pulsed laser deposited thin films by plasma plume excited reed with high accuracy. A vibrating reed, consisting of a Si substrate, is mounted into a pulsed laser deposition chamber. After deposition of the polymer film for investigation, the Si substrate is excited by the energy of the expanding laser plasma coming from a Ag target. The oscillations of the reed and their damping are measured using a diode laser reflected at the back side of the substrate, by observing the reflections with a position sensitive detector. Data collection as well as the coordination with the deposition setup are done computer controlled. Temperature dependent measurements of the damping of the reed oscillations then allow us to perform mechanical spectroscopy investigations of laser deposited polymer films. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.