Pulsed laser ablation and deposition—or just pulsed laser deposition (PLD)—is a method similar to pulsed vacuum arc deposition. The depositing species are removed from a target material in short bursts resulting in a kinetic energy of these species of the order of 10–100 eV [31]. However, semiconducting or isolating materials can be used for PLD, which are not accessible for arc deposition. Normally, a congruent transfer of compound targets is observed , nevertheless multiple targets are commonly used as stoichiometry variations can be obtained in a much more easy and flexible way .
Similarly, elimination of particulates or droplets is still an ongoing research topic . Currently, PLD is used widely for growth of high temperature superconducting oxides, dielectrics, ferroelectrics and semiconductors.