COLORATION EFFECT OF PULSED LASER ON WO₃

When laser pulses irradiate the surface of the sample WO₃, an interesting coloration effect is obtained. Only by one pulse of XeCl laser irradiation (wavelength: 308 nm, pulse duration: 36 ns, output power: 100 mJ/pulse), a significant color change appears. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows that a partial reduction process of WO₃ occurs and conduction band electrons appears. X-ray diffraction pattern indicates that the lattice parameters of the colored samples are increased. A molten layer can be seen in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image. It may be concluded that the coloration effect of pulsed laser undergoes a process different from that of electro- or photo- chromism, and may be attributed to thermochromism and substoichiometric WO₃ is formed. The coloration process is characterized by its high speed and stability.