Pulsed laser deposition in Twente: from research tool towards industrial deposition

After the discovery of the perovskite high Tc superconductors in 1986, a rare and almost unknown deposition technique attracted attention. Pulsed laser deposition (PLD), or laser ablation as it was called in the beginning, became popular because of the possibility to deposit complex materials, like perovskites, as thin film. By introducing in situ diagnostics and control of the laser fluence, PLD became a technique for several experimental studies of diverse complex materials. Nowadays, first steps towards industrial applications of PLD thin films on large wafers, up to 200 mm, are underway. In this paper we give a brief overview of the progress that PLD has made in our research group in Twente. Starting with control of deposition parameters, via in situ diagnostics with reflection high-energy electron diffraction and ending with the latest development in equipment for large-area deposition.