Effects of an external magnetic field in pulsed laser deposition

Thin films were grown by pulsed laser deposition, PLD, on Si (1 0 0) substrates by the ablation of a sintered ceramic SrFe12O19 target with and without the presence of a nonhomogeneous magnetic field of μ0H = 0.4 T perpendicular to substrate plane and parallel to the plasma expansion axis. The field was produced by a rectangular-shaped Nd–Fe–B permanent magnet and the substrate was just placed on the magnet surface (Aurora method). An appreciable increment of optical emission due to the presence of the magnetic field was observed, but no film composition change or thickness increment was obtained. It suggests that the increment of the optical emission is due mainly to the electron confinement rather than confinement of ionic species.