Suppression of Dewetting in Pulsed Laser Melting of Thin Metallic Films on SiO₂

Abstract

Pulsed excimer laser projection irradiation has been successfully applied to completely melt and resolidify encapsulated elemental metal films of Au, Cu, Cr, and Ni directly on amorphous SiO2 substrates. A combination of narrow irradiated lines and appropriate SiO2 capping layers was used to obtain films that do not dewet when fully melted. Detailed processing maps were generated for Au and Ni, while equivalent trends for Cu and Cr were also noted. These systems were analyzed for common behaviors, and from these the principle factors, a basic process map is proposed to describe adequately these four systems. Experimental parameters and sample preparation criteria are presented to realize such resolidification studies in other metal systems.