Determination of the melting threshold of TiO2 thin films processed by excimer laser irradiation

Processing surfaces by laser needs an understanding of the mechanisms generated by irradiation. In this work, to gain understanding of the mechanisms occurring during irradiation of TiO2 thin films by means of KrF excimer laser, we have performed infrared time resolved reflectivity measurements. This experimental investigation revealed modifications of the heating/cooling cycle as a function of the fluence (F). These modifications start appearing for a fluence value of about similar to 0.25 J/cm(2) which is associated with the melting threshold of the film. Additionally, we have solved numerically the heat equation of the system with specific boundary conditions. From these calculations, we have established the thermal history of the film during the 25 ns irradiation pulse. The data reveal that a part of the medium liquefies around a fluence of 0.23 J/cm(2) in good agreement with the experimental data. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4728159]