Study of the integrated fluence threshold condition for the formation of β-Bi2O3 on Bi thin films by using ns laser pulses

• Bismuth in thin film form is a gentle material to be laser oxidized.
• To induce the Bi to β-Bi2O3 transformation the laser fluence is low.
• This method of laser irradiation lets to have control on the oxidation degree of bismuth thin films.

The formation of β-Bi2O3 through laser irradiation of a bismuth (Bi) thin film is reported. The bismuth thin films were irradiated in atmospheric air using Nd:YAG laser pulses of 7 ns duration and 1064 nm wavelength. A set of irradiations was done on the samples varying the total irradiation time (i. e. the number of pulses) for a fix per pulse laser fluence of 25 mJ/cm2. The laser processed regions were characterized by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and microRaman spectroscopy (mRS). OM results show that the laser modified cross section on the film is smaller than the laser beam cross section, which means a thermally confined interaction; SEM micrographs reveled the formation of submicron sized particles as a result of the multi-pulse laser irradiation; using microRaman spectroscopy characterization we were able to determine the formation of the β-Bi2O3 crystalline phase within the laser irradiated spot on the sample.