Conjugate optical-thermal models of back and front laser treatments of thin multilayer films

Manufacturing of multilayer thin films deposited on a glass substrate can be accomplished by means of pulsed laser sources. The heat source can either directly impinge the film surface, front treatment, or the glass substrate, back treatment. In this paper the one-dimensional conjugate non-linear thermal-optical time dependent problem is numerically analyzed. The investigation is accomplished in order to compare the two aforementioned processes. For a Nd-YAG laser with wavelength of 1064 nm, a single TCO layer, a a - Si/TCO and Al/a - Si/TCO multilayers are investigated. Results are presented in form of spatial and temporal temperature profiles as well as absorbed heat transfer rates inside the layers. The accomplished analysis clearly shows that the back treatment is more efficient in terms of manufacturing process.