Quartz crystal microbalance measurements of absolute laser photodeposition rates: Application to 257-nm deposition from W(CO)₆

A quartz crystal microbalance has been used to measure absolute rates of laser-induced photochemical deposition processes in real time. A cw UV laser (257 nm) focused at normal incidence onto the microbalance crystal surface is used to induce deposition by photodecomposition of an organometallic vapor. An equation is derived to obtain the absolute mass of the deposit. The method is demonstrated for photodeposition from W(CO)6.