R.G. Nikov

Au nanostructure fabrication by pulsed laser deposition in open air: Influence of the deposition geometry

We present a fast and flexible method for the fabrication of Au nanocolumns. Au nanostructures were produced by pulsed laser deposition in air at atmospheric pressure. No impurities or Au compounds were detected in the resulting samples. The nanoparticles and nanoaggregates produced in the ablated plasma at atmospheric pressure led to the formation of chain-like nanostructures on the substrate. The dependence of the surface morphology of the samples on the deposition geometry used in the experimental set up was studied. Nanocolumns of different size and density were produced by varying the angle between the plasma plume and the substrate. The electrical, optical, and hydrophobic properties of the samples were studied and discussed in relation to their morphology. All of the nanostructures were conductive, with conductivity increasing with the accumulation of ablated material on the substrate. The modification of the electrical properties of the nanostructures was demonstrated by irradiation by infrared light. The Au nanostructures fabricated by the proposed technology are difficult to prepare by other methods, which makes the simple implementation and realization in ambient conditions presented in this work more ideal for industrial applications.

Fabrication of Au nanostructures by pulsed laser deposition in air

Results on fabrication of Au nanostructures by laser ablation in open air are presented. The ablation of the Au target is performed in air environment by nanosecond laser pulses delivered by Nd:YAG laser system operated at λ = 355 nm. Due to the high density of the ambient atmosphere, the intensive collisions of the plume spices result in formation of nanoparticles and aggregates by condensation close to the target. The produced nanoagregates are deposited on a quartz substrate where grow in a specific nanostructure. Diagnostics of the laser-generated plasma for the laser fluences used in this study is performed. Study based on change of ambient conditions shows that the increase of the air pressure from 10 Torr to atmospheric one leads to transition from thin film to porous structures. It is found that the surface morphology of the structures produced by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) in open air strongly depends on the substrate-target distance. The electrical properties of the obtained structures are studied by measurement of their electrical resistance. It is found that the conductivity of the structures strongly depends on their morphology. The fabricated structures have potential for application in the field of electronics and sensors.

Nanoparticle Over Mirror plasmonic structures prepared with use of Au colloid produced by laser ablation in water

Recently, an intensive research is carried out on plasmonic structures due to their potential application in many areas such as sensing, light harvesting and energy conversion and storage. In particular, a growing interest is observed in the Nanoparticle Over Mirror (NOM) structures for which the lithography and surface chemical functionalization represent the most popular production routes1. However, the application of those techniques is limited by the low efficacy, process complexity and chemical contamination of nanoparticles (NP). In this work, we report the contamination-free and low cost fabrication method of NOMs based on wet coating and ultrasonic-assisted nanocolloid drying process. The glass plates covered with magnetron sputtered 100 nm thick Au film and subsequently with Al2O3 layers (6 – 36 nm) by means of pulsed laser deposition are used as substrates. Au NPs are produced in the form of colloidal suspension by means of laser ablation in water using the 1064 nm, 6 ns Nd:YAG laser. The NOM synthesis is finalized by imposing of the Au NP suspension onto the as prepared Au-Al2O3/glass substrates and dried. To avoid NP agglomeration, the wet coated substrates are sonicated using 20W, 20 kHz ultrasound generator. SEM inspection of the obtained NOM structures confirms the positive sonication effect, i.e. the presence of agglomerate-free, homogenous layers. These consist of NPs (36 nm average diameter) which are characterized by the resonance absorption band at 528 nm. For NOM structures the UV-vis spectra reveal increased infrared activity and peak shift in agreement with theoretical modeling2. The NOM structure characterization is completed by analysis of the SEM and profilometry measurement results.