Influence of the laser pulse repetition rate and scanning speed on the morphology of Ag nanostructures fabricated by pulsed laser ablation of solid target in water

• Published in: Applied physics. A, Materials science & processing Materials science & processing, 2017-11, Vol.123 (11), p.1-11, Article 719
• Main Authors: Nikolov, A. S., Balchev, I. I., Nedyalkov, N. N., Kostadinov, I. K., Karashanova, D. B., Atanasova, G. B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ablative materials; Applied physics; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Colloids; Condensed Matter Physics; Distilled water; Electron diffraction; Electron microscopy; Electrons; Laser ablation; Laser beams; Lasers; Machines; Manufacturing; Materials science; Morphology; Nanotechnology; Optical and Electronic Materials; Phase composition; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Processes; Pulse repetition rate; Pulsed lasers; Repetition; Scanning; Silver; Size distribution; Spectrum analysis; Surfaces and Interfaces; Thin Films; Transmission electron microscopy; X ray photoelectron spectroscopy
• ISSN: 0947-8396; 1432-0630
• DOI: 10.1007/s00339-017-1328-0

Nanostructures of noble metal were produced by pulsed laser ablation in liquid. A solid Ag target was immersed in double distilled water and a CuBr laser in a master oscillator—power amplifier configuration oscillating at 511 nm and emitting pulses with duration of 30 ns at a repetition rate of up to 20 kHz was employed to produce different colloids. The impact was studied of the laser pulse repetition rate and the beam scanning speed on the morphology of the nanostructures formed. Further, the optical extinction spectra of the colloids in the UV/VIS range were measured and used to make an indirect assessment of the changes in the shape and size distribution of the nanostructures. The transmission values in the near UV range were used to estimate the efficiency of the ablation process under the different experimental conditions implemented. A visualization of the nanostructures was made possible by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The structure and phase composition of the nanoparticles were studied by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED), while the alteration of the target surface caused by the impact of the high-repetition-rate laser illumination was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The optimal conditions were determined yielding the highest efficiency in terms of amount of ablated material.