Formation of silver particles and silver oxide plume nanocomposites upon pulsed-laser induced liquid-solid interface reaction

Nanodendrites consisting of silver and silver oxide are grown upon a pulsed-laser induced reaction at the interface between the solid target and silver nitrate solution. By using a high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) and selected area diffraction (SAD), the fabricated nanopatterns are identified to be a composite structure that consisting of silver nanoparticles and silver oxide nanoplumes with polycrystalline structure. In detail, these silver nanocrystals are trunks of the nanodendrite, and their size is in the range of 30 to 50 nm. The silver oxide nanoplumes are branches of the nanodendrite, and their width and length are in the ranges of 20 to 50 nm and 30 to 100 nm, respectively. Additionally, we suggested a vapor-liquid mechanism for the formation of the nanopatterns using a pulsed-laser induced liquid-solid interface reaction, in which both silver clusters in vapor and silver ions in solution are simultaneously involved.Received: 6 April 2004, Published online: 5 November 2004PACS: 81.15.Fg Laser deposition - 61.46. + w Nanoscale materials: clusters, nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanocrystals - 81.07.Bc Nanocrystalline materials