Time resolved calorimetry of te films during pulsed laser annealing

Using a pyroelectric thin-film calorimeter the temperature of 30 nm thick Te films during pulsed laser annealing was studied in real-time. A XeCl excimer laser pumped dye laser with Raman shifter was utilized to study the wavelength and energy dependence. No significant wavelength dependence was noticed. Depending on the pulse energy, however, melting, boiling and crystallization of the Te films was observed. These findings support a strictly thermal model for laser annealing and optical recording with Te based media. In addition boiling was identified as the prevalent mechanism for the loss of material.