Laser ablation of silicone rubber for fabricating SiO2 thin films

We deposited SiO2 thin films at room temperature by 193-nm ArF excimer laser ablation of silicone rubber in oxygen atmosphere. (Si-O)(n) chains were selectively ejected from silicone rubber targets by ablation in high laser fluence at about 10 J/cm(2). Oxygen gas worked To oxidize the ejected (Si-O)(n) chains to form SiO2 thin films at the gas pressure of 4.4 x 10(-2) Torr, in addition to reducing the isolated carbon mixed into the films. The transmittance of the 400-nm-thick films was 95% at a 500 nm wavelength. The refractive index of the films was defined as 1.4 to 1.5.