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Laser-deposited metallic alloys and multilayers were studied in detail by a combination of high-resolution ex situ and time-resolved in situ experiments. The purpose of these experiments is to better understand the special properties of laser-deposited metallic films in comparison with conventionally prepared thin films. During deposition, thickness, resistance, and electron diffraction (THEED) experiments show that the film surface is resputtered, local mixing at the interfaces of multilayers on a nanometre scale occurs, and metastable phases up to large film thicknesses are formed. After deposition, a compressive stress of 1–2 GPa was measured using four-circle diffractometry, and growth defects were observed on an atomic scale by electron microscopy (HRTEM) and field ion microscopy (FIM). The obtained structural details of the metallic films can be explained by an implantation model for the laser deposition process.

The properties of metallic thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) strongly differ from samples grown by conventional thin film techniques like sputtering and evaporation. In many systems (Fe-Nb, Fe-Zr, Cu-Co, Fe-Ag and Ni-Ag), strongly supersaturated solid solutions are formed, a broader formation range occurring for amorphous samples, and nanocrystalline phases are produced. Additionally, metastable phases of larger thickness at the interfaces of multilayers occur. Reasons for these behaviors are discussed with respect to atomic mixing and implantation effects induced by the high instantaneous deposition rate during PLD and the high kinetic energy (>100 eV) of the deposited ions.