Influence of deposition parameters on composition and refractive index of femtosecond and nanosecond pulsed laser deposited gallium lanthanum oxysulphide

The influence of the deposition parameters on femtosecond and nanosecond pulsed laser deposited gallium lanthanum oxysulphide (GLSO) glass has been investigated. A systematic comparison between films deposited by femtosecond and nanosecond pulsed laser deposition (PLD) shows that the compositional range of each regime varies significantly; in particular femtosecond PLD shows a unique potential for selective fabrication of films with high lanthanum content well outside the conventional glass melting region. We demonstrate how manipulation of PLD parameters can influence the stoichiometric transfer of the PLD process, leading to thin films with compositions significantly different from the GLSO target material, and reveal how refractive index of the as-deposited films is dependent upon the composition (and hence deposition parameters). We also briefly discuss the thermal properties of GLSO material for various compositions for applications in data storage device applications.