PLD is another physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique that utilizes a high-power pulsed laser beam focused on a source target inside a vacuum chamber. The material vaporized via the high power laser beam subsequently deposits as a thin film on a substrate which is facing the target (such as a silicon wafer). This process can occur in ultra-high vacuum or in the presence of a background gas, such as oxygen, commonly used when depositing oxide materials.