Dynamics of laser‐induced vaporization for ultrafast deposition of amorphous silicon films

Atomic vapor produced by a frequency‐doubled, pulsed Nd:YAG laser with its beam focused on a silicon plate has been used to deposit amorphous silicon films on substrate at room temperature. Time‐resolved measurements on the emission lines from vaporized Si show that the laser‐irradiated surface is kept at temperatures high enough to maintain a significant amount of vaporization for approximately 40 ns after the 7‐ns laser pulse. Since intense pulsed atomic beams are used, the silicon films grow at high speed in excess of 106 A/s.