Direct Patterning of Oxides by Pulsed Laser Stencil Deposition

This thesis describes a detailed study of the application of stencil technology in the patterning of epitaxial oxide thin films by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Stencil patterning has been applied in thin film sub-micron patterning of metals successfully for decades since it has several advantages over lithography techniques. It is a single processing step technique which can be applied to many different types of surfaces. The stencil patterning process does not utilize any solvents which makes it a favored technique for patterning metals on fragile and/or organic materials. However, for successful stencil patterning and unlimited (re)use of stencils, several issues need to be solved. The main issues that limit the re-usability of stencils are clogging of the apertures and deformation of the stencil caused by stress induced by the deposited material.