Novel pulsed laser deposition of thin films

The authors briefly introduce and review the subject, indicating both advantages and less desirable effects associated with the technique. The application towards the growth of dielectric buffer layers suitable for superconducting films interfaced with crystalline silicon (c-Si) is described, as well as the use of multilayered methods to prepare BiSrCaCuO and PbSrYCaCuO superconducting structures. In addition, reactive growth of TiN, obtained by ablating Ti metal in N₂ is summarised. Finally, preliminary investigations on the nature of the kinetic energy distribution and mass composition of the laser ablation plasma are described