Investigation of different liquid media and ablation times on pulsed laser ablation synthesis of aluminum nanoparticles

Aluminum nanoparticles were synthesized by pulsed laser ablation of Al targets in ethanol, acetone, and ethylene glycol. Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images, Particle size distribution diagram from Laser Particle Size Analyzer (LPSA), UV-visible absorption spectra, and weight changes of targets were used for the characterization and comparison of products. The experiments demonstrated that ablation efficiency in ethylene glycol is too low, in ethanol is higher, and in acetone is highest. Comparison between ethanol and acetone clarified that acetone medium leads to finer nanoparticles (mean diameter of 30 nm) with narrower size distribution (from 10 to 100 nm). However, thin carbon layer coats some of them, which was not observed in ethanol medium. It was also revealed that higher ablation time resulted in higher ablated mass, but lower ablation rate. Finer nanoparticles, moreover, were synthesized in higher ablation times.     

Femtosecond pulsed laser ablation of thin gold film

Laser micromachining on 1000 nm-thick gold film using femtosecond laser has been studied. The laser pulses that are used for this study are 400 nm in central wavelength, 150 fs in pulse duration, and the repetition rate is 1 kHz. Plano-concave lens with a focal length of 19 mm focuses the laser beam into a spot of 3 μm (1/e² diameter). The sample was translated at a linear speed of 400 μm/s during machining. Grooves were cut on gold thin film with laser pulses of various energies. The ablation depths were measured and plotted. There are two ablation regimes. In the first regime, the cutting is very shallow and the edges are free of molten material. While in the second regime, molten material appears and the cutting edges are contaminated. The results suggest that clean and precise microstructuring can be achieved with femtosecond pulsed laser by controlling the pulse energy in the first ablation regime.     

Femtosecond pulsed laser ablation with spatial filtering

With the rise in demand for miniaturized features with better acute edge acuity and negligible thermal damage zone, one of the key vital areas lies in the refinement of the quality of the laser beam itself. Spatial filter is routinely used in optical micromachining systems to smoothen the Gaussian profile of the machining spot in order to obtain a feature of the desired quality. However, its profile smoothening effect has never been investigated for femtosecond pulsed laser micromachining process since the extremely high peak power of femtosecond pulses will cause damage on the filtering aperture of spatial filter. During the development of an acousto-optical micromachining system using femtosecond pulses, we found that if the damage of the filtering aperture can be circumvented, spatial filter can improve the machining quality of femtosecond pulse ablation, especially when ablation is conducted at low-fluency range (just above the ablation threshold fluency). In this paper, we investigate and demonstrate both the improvement and potential that beam refinement can bring about. In our experiment, a series of test patterns were ablated with a 400 nm second-harmonic Ti:Sapphire femtosecond laser of 150 fs duration at varying pulse energy ranging from 31 to 39 nJ. The specimen used in the experiment is a platinum- (Pt) sputtered coating of 100 nm thickness on a quartz substrate. The results show a significant improvement in the constancy of the shape as well as the size of ablated feature, revealing an improved beam profile and beam energy distribution due to spatial filtering.     

Formation of periodic structures by laser ablation of metals in liquids

Experimental results are presented on ablation of metals (W, Cu, brass and bronze) in a liquid environment (e.g., ethanol or water) by irradiation with either a pulsed copper vapor laser (0.51 μm) or a pulsed Nd:YAG laser (1.06 μm). The target material is ejected into surrounding liquid in the form of nanoparticles. In a certain range of laser parameters (fluence and number of laser shots) the surface of the solid target is composed of micro-cones having a regular structure. The distance between neighboring micro-cones in the structure depends on the laser spot size. The structures allow the observation of up-conversion of the laser frequency due to generation of the second harmonics in the eye retina.     

Preparation of nano-sized functional materials using laser ablation in liquids

We propose a convenient technique applicable for investigations of various functions of nanoparticles produced by laser ablation in liquids. It was demonstrated that nanoparticles of anatase-TiO₂, a electrode material for lithium secondary batteries, produced by laser ablation in acetone could be efficiently deposited on a substrate by using an electrophoresis technique. Analysis of the electrochemical properties of nanoparticles become much more facile with those deposited nanoparticles than with dispersed nanoparticles. In addition, it was demonstrated that comparison of the electrochemical properties between nanoparticles and microparticles were possible by means of this technique.     

Femtosecond laser near field ablation

The high field strength of femtosecond laser pulses leads to nonlinear effects during the interaction with condensed matter. One such effect is the ablation process, which can be initiated below the threshold of common thermal ablation if the excitation pulses are sufficiently short. This effect leads to structure formation, which is anisotropic because of the polarization properties of the near field and can result in pattern sizes below the resolution limit of light. These effects are explored by temporally resolved scattering methods and by post‐mortem analysis to show the non‐thermal and anisotropic nature of this process. The near‐field distribution of plasmon modes can be tailored to a large extent in order to obtain control of the pattern formation.     

Excitation of high energy levels under laser exposure of suspensions of nanoparticles in liquids

Laser exposure of suspensions of nanoparticles in liquids leads to excitation of high energy levels in both liquid and nanoparticle material. The emission spectrum of the colloidal solution under exposure of a suspension metallic nanoparticles in water to radiation of a Nd:YAG laser of a picosecond range of pulse duration is discussed. Excitation of nuclear energy levels and neutron release is experimentally studied on the model system of transmutation of Hg into Au that occurs under exposure of Hg nanodrops suspended in D₂O. The proposed mechanism involves: (i) emission of X-ray photons by Hg nanoparticles upon laser exposure, leading to neutron release from D₂O, (ii) initiation of Hg → Au transmutation by the capture of neutrons. The effect of transmutation is more pronounced using ¹⁹⁶Hg isotope instead of Hg of natural isotope composition. The influence of laser pulse duration on the degree of transmutation (from fs through ns range) is discussed.     

大气环境下飞秒激光对铝靶烧蚀过程的研究

利用时间分辨的光阴影成像技术研究了在大气环境下飞秒激光烧蚀铝靶的动态过程. 在入射激光能量为4 mJ, 激光光斑超过1 mm时, 激光烧蚀区表面物质以近似平面冲击波形式向外喷射; 在同样激光能量下、激光光斑较小时(约0.6 mm), 激光烧蚀区以近似半球型冲击波形式向外喷射. 当激光能量比较大时(7 mJ), 发现空气的电离对于激光烧蚀靶材有着重要影响. 在光轴附近烧蚀产生的喷射物具有额外的柱状和半圆型的结构, 叠加在平面冲击波结构上.     

Carbon nanocrystals produced by pulsed laser ablation of carbon

Plasma laser ablation experiments were performed irradiating glassy-carbon targets placed in vacuum through a pulsed Nd:YAG laser operating at the second harmonic (532 nm), 9 ns pulse width and 10⁹ W/cm² density power.

Thin films of ablated carbon were deposited on silicon oxide substrates placed at different distances and angles with respect to the target.

The analysis of the deposited material was carried out by using surface profiler, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy.

Results show the evidence of carbon nanocrystals and nanostructures with dimension of the order of 100 nm deposited on the substrates together with a large amount of amorphous phase. The spectroscopic investigations and the SEM images indicate the formation of nanodiamond seeds as a nucleation process induced on the substrate surface. Nanostructures were investigated as a function of the laser intensity and angle distribution. Experimental results were compared with the literature data coming from nanodiamonds growth with different techniques.

Experiments performed at Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare-Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (INFN-LNS) of Catania (Italy) and data analysis conducted at Dipartimento di Fisica and DFMTA of the Università of Messina (Italy), CNR-ITIS of Messina and ST-Microelectronics of Catania will be presented and discussed.     

Femtosecond laser ablation of polypropylene for breathable film

A polypropylene (PP) film was ablated using a femtosecond laser with a center wavelength of 785 nm, a pulse width of 184 fs and a repetition rate of 1 kHz. Increments of both the pulse energy and the shot number of pulses lead to co-occurrence of photochemical and thermal effect, demonstrated by the spatial expansion of rim on the surface of PP. The shapes of the laser-ablated PP films were imaged by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and measured by a 3D optical measurement system (NanoFocus). And, the gas and water vapor transmission rate, mechanical properties of PP film micropatterned by fs laser pulses was characterized. Our results demonstrate that a femtosecond pulsed laser is an efficient tool for breathable packaging films in modifying the flow of air and gas, where the micropatterns are specifically tailored in size, location and number of which is easily controlled by laser processing conditions.     

Efficient fabrication of substrates for surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry using laser ablation in liquids

Substrates for the surface-assisted laser desorption ionization (SALDI) technique were prepared using electrophoresis of gold nanoparticles produced by laser ablation in liquids. Throughout the preparation, no supplemental reagent was added for the stabilization and deposition of nanoparticles. Nanoparticles were deposited more uniformly using the electrophoresis technique than using dropping of the solution. Results demonstrated that the higher uniformity of the deposition of nanoparticles improved the reproducibility of SALDI measurements. Furthermore, the thickness of the deposited nanoparticles influences the SALDI efficiency.     

Preparation of silver nanoparticles by laser ablation in polyvinylpyrrolidone solutions

We performed laser ablation of a silver plate in polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) aqueous solutions to prepare silver nanoparticles. Secondary laser irradiation onto the prepared colloidal solutions was also carried out. It was revealed that the formation efficiency was increased by addition of PVP as well as the stability of nanoparticles. The result of shadowgraph measurements suggested that the increased ablation efficiency by PVP is attributable to increased secondary etching efficiency by the solvent-confined plasma toward the silver plate. On the other hand, the size decrease of the nanoparticles by addition of PVP was more remarkable during the secondary irradiation process than in the laser ablation (nanoparticle preparation) process. This result indicates that emitted materials interact less sufficiently with PVP molecules in the laser ablation process than in the secondary laser irradiation process.     

Synthesis of nanosized particles during laser ablation of gold in water

In this paper we report the formation of gold nanoparticles during laser ablation of gold target in water in the absence of any additives. The experiments were carried out by using the radiation of the pulsed Nd:YAG laser, operating at the second (532 nm, 10 ns, 10 Hz), or the fourth harmonic (266 nm) wavelengths. The properties of the nanoparticles were found to be susceptible to the additional 532 and 266 nm laser irradiation. It has been established that both the mean size of the nanoparticles and their stability could be varied by proper selection of the parameters of laser ablation and postirradiation such as laser fluence and wavelength combinations.     

Femtosecond laser ablation of DAST

High rate femtosecond (fs) laser ablation of the organic salt 4-N,N-dimethylamino-4-N-methyl-stilbazolium tosylate (DAST), an organic crystal with very high optical nonlinearities has been demonstrated. The threshold fluence and the ideal fluence range for damage free ablation for the wavelengths 550, 600, and 775 nm have been determined and the quality of the produced grooves has been investigated. The threshold fluences are in the order of 10–70 mJ/cm² and the ideal fluence range for damage free ablation is ranging from 30 to 300 mJ/cm², depending on the wavelength. The optimal focussing for ablation has been investigated and first results towards the structuring of a ridge waveguide are presented. We conclude that this method is most promising for waveguide patterning of DAST surfaces for integrated optics applications.     

Enhancement of organic nanoparticle preparation by laser ablation in aqueous solution using surfactants

Nanoparticle and metal phthalocyanine (MPc) transparent colloidal aqueous solutions were directly obtained by 355 nm YAG laser ablation. We found that too long an irradiation time does not contribute to producing nanoparticles and their generation efficiency increases with a low solution temperature. We believe this due to nanoparticle reassociation which is caused by hydrophobicity. To prevent generated nanoparticles from reassociating we performed experiments adding two kinds of ionic and nonionic surfactants into solution. We found five characteristics of nanoparticle generation from adding surfactants to a solution regardless of the type of surfactant used. These characteristics are that: (1) production efficiency increases; (2) stability is better after irradiation; (3) irradiation intensity needed to induce nanoparticle generation becomes lower; (4) mean size of the generated nanoparticles becomes smaller; and (5) crystalline structures of oxo(phthalocyaninato) vanadium (IV) (VOPc) are controllable by changing the surfactant concentration.     

Femtosecond laser ablation profile near an interface: Analysis based on the correlation with superficial properties of individual materials

Femtosecond laser ablation of materials is turning to be an important tool for micromachining as well as for selective removal of biological tissues. In a great number of applications, laser ablation has to process through interfaces separating media of different properties. The investigation of the ablation behavior within materials and passing through interfaces is the main aim of this study. Especially, the analysis of the discontinuity in the ablation profile close to interfaces between distinct materials can reveal some of the phenomena involved in the formation of an ablated microcavity geometry. We have used a method that correlates the ablation cross sectional area with the local laser intensity. The effective intensity ablation properties were obtained from surface ablation data of distinct materials. The application of this method allows the prediction of the occurrence of a size discontinuity in the ablation geometry at the interface of distinct media, a fact which becomes important when planning applications in different media.     

PMP泡沫的飞秒激光烧蚀及切割方法

对密度为90 mg/cm3的PMP泡沫材料的飞秒激光烧蚀结果进行了分析,推导出该材料在脉宽50 fs、波长800 nm、重复频率为1000 Hz的飞秒激光作用下的蚀除阈值为0.91 J/cm2（100个激光脉冲）,获得了烧蚀直径分别随激光功率、脉冲数及聚焦物镜数值孔径的变化规律。相同飞秒激光加工系统下,对比了铜箔上获得的烧蚀形状,确定了PMP泡沫材料本身的多孔洞及其分布不均匀是造成烧蚀区域的形状不规则的重要因素。PMP泡沫在较高能量或是较长时间的飞秒激光作用下,烧蚀区域发生碳化的原因是由热作用引发的。提出了一种基于激光束耦合的飞秒激光切割厚度大于1 mm的薄膜-泡沫材料的方法,并获得了切割厚度大于1.5 mm、切割侧壁与光束光轴夹角小于5、切割面整洁的薄片。     

Femtosecond laser ablation of silicon in air and vacuum

Femtosecond(fs) pulse laser ablation of silicon targets in air and in vacuum is investigated using a timeresolved shadowgraphic method. The observed dynamic process of the fs laser ablation of silicon in air is significantly different from that in vacuum. Similar to the ablation of metallic targets,while the shock wave front and a series of nearly concentric and semicircular stripes,as well as the contact front,are clearly identifiable in the process of ablation under 1×10 5 Pa,these phenomena are no longer observed when the ablation takes place in vacuum. Although the ambient air around the target strongly affects the evolution of the ablation plume,the three rounds of material ejection clearly observed in the shadowgraphs of fs laser ablation in standard air can also be distinguished in the process of ablation in vacuum. It is proven that the three rounds of material ejection are caused by different ablation mechanisms.     

Characterization of optical and nonlinear optical properties of silver nanoparticles prepared by laser ablation in various liquids

The optical, structural, and nonlinear optical properties of silver nanoparticles prepared by laser ablation in various liquids were investigated at 397.5, 532, and 795 nm. The TEM and spectral measurements have shown temporal dynamics of size distribution of Ag nanoparticles in solutions. The thermal-induced self-defocusing dominated in the case of high pulse repetition rate as well as in the case of nanosecond pulses. In the case of low pulse repetition rate, the self-focusing (γ = 3 × 10⁻¹³ cm² W⁻¹) and saturated absorption (β = −1.5 × 10⁻⁹ cm W⁻¹) of picosecond and femtosecond radiation were observed in these colloidal solutions. The nonlinear susceptibility of Ag nanoparticles ablated in water was measured to be 5 × 10⁻⁸ esu (at λ = 397.5 nm).     

Femtosecond laser writing of subwave one-dimensional quasiperiodic nanostructures on a titanium surface

One-dimensional quasiperiodic structures whose period is much smaller than the wavelength of exciting radiation have been obtained on a titanium surface under the multipulse action of linearly polarized femtosecond laser radiation with various surface energy densities. As the radiation energy density increases, the one-dimensional surface nanorelief oriented perpendicularly to the radiation polarization evolves from quasiperiodic ablation nanogrooves to regular lattices with subwave periods (100–400 nm). In contrast to the preceding works for various metals, the period of lattices for titanium decreases with increasing energy density. The formation of the indicated surface nanostructures is explained by the interference of the electric fields of incident laser radiation and a surface electromagnetic wave excited by this radiation, because the length of the surface electromagnetic wave for titanium with significant interband absorption decreases with an increase in the electron excitation of the material.