Surface topographic analysis of Er:YAG on silicon grown by femtosecond pulsed laser deposition

Erbium-doped YAG were grown on a silicon (100) substrate by femtosecond pulsed laser deposition using a mode-locked Ti:Sapphire pulsed laser operating at 82 MHz repetition rate and 80 fs pulse duration. Deposition was carried out at laser power of 400 mW and 800 mW, with deposition time of 2 hours, 3 hours and 4 hours. AFM image analysis of all samples showed that grain size and surface RMS roughness increase with deposition time. Less rough surface and smaller grains were also observed on samples deposited in higher laser power.