Basic mechanism and application of the laser induced forward transfer for high Tc superconducting thin film deposition

In this paper, the authors detail the basic mechanisms and potential applications of the Laser Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT) for the rapid deposition and patterning in a clean environment, of high Tc superconducting thin films. With the LIFT technique, a stoichiometric oxide superconductor compound is initially deposited in a thin layer on an optically transparent support. By irradiating, under vacuum or in air, this precoated layer with a strongly absorbed single laser pulse through the transparent support, the authors are able to remove the film from its support to be transferred onto a selected target substrate, held in contact or close to the original film. The mechanisms for transferring YBaCuO and BiSrCaCuO thin films, with a pulsed UV excimer laser are described using a thermal melting model based on the resolution of the heat flow equation. The various possibilities given by the LIFT technique for patterning high Tc films (mask and direct patterning) are also examined