Abstract: A method for sputtering atoms from a target made of a group II metal using a laser is provided. A sputter target and substrate are located in a vacuum chamber. The laser frequency is chosen to be near-resonant with an electronic transition in the group II metal from a ground state to an excited metastable state. As the sputtered atoms leave the target surface, the near-resonant laser energy excites the sputtered atoms. The excited atoms are sputtered into an ambient of molecules containing group VI atoms in the vacuum chamber where they react to form a II-VI compound that deposits on the substrate.

Abstract: Electronically excited nitrogen fluoride is formed by reacting fluorine atoms with azide radicals according to the reaction:F+N.sub.3 .fwdarw.NF*+N.sub.2.in a preferred embodiment, the azide radical is provided by using HN.sub.3, and the atomic F is formed by discharging microwaves through either F.sub.2 or CF.sub.4, or by thermally decomposing F.sub.2.