Laser writing of nanostructures on bulk Al via its ablation in liquids

Abstract

Experimental results are presented on the formation of self-organized nanostructures (NSs) on a bulk Al target under its ablation in liquids--water and ethanol--with short laser pulses from 180 femtoseconds (fs) through 350 picoseconds (ps). NSs are characterized by atomic force microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, optical absorption spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction. The period of NSs does not depend on the laser wavelength used from 248 through 800 nm and is approximately 200 nm. NSs on Al show the characteristic absorption peak in the near UV which has been attributed to plasmon oscillation of electrons. The wings of this peak, extending to the visible, lead to a distinct yellow coloration of the processed Al surface. Ultrafast laser structuring of bulk aluminum in liquids may be potentially a promising technique for efficient production of nanosized aluminum.

Fabrication of Micro/Nano Structures on Metals by Femtosecond Laser Micromachining

“…However, the fluence needed to create nanostructures in air was higher than that required in both ethanol and water. In contrast to the previous study, no ablation was observed for Al in water with a 500 fs 248 nm laser system [88]. However, Dou et al (2003) observed nanostructures on Al2024 alloy in air with a similar laser system having 500 fs pulse duration and 248 nm wavelength [90].…”

“…Coloured metals were fabricated by producing nanostructures on the surface. Such structural colors were attributed to the specific nanostructures formed on the metals that induce higher plasmonic absorbance at certain wavelengths [88,89]. The effects of various micromachining parameters on nanostructures formation are discussed in the following sections.…”

“…Nanostructures were formed on the pre-structured material, whereas no nanostructures were observed on the unaltered surface [18]. The morphology of the nanostructures varies with the composition percentage of different metals in an alloy as found by on Duralumin alloy ablated in water [88]. Dou et al (2003) also observed the selective ablation of the Al2024 alloy.…”

Structural, Morphological and Optical Properties of Nanoproducts of Zirconium Under Laser Ablation in Water and in Aqueous SDS Solutions

“…Upper levels of the valence zone are mainly of O(2p) type and lower levels of the conductivity zone are determined by 4d orbitals zirconium ion Zr 4+ [55,56]. Changes of phase composition of ZrO 2 and the synthesis conditions, presence of surfactant, in particular, influence of the absorption spectra that carry information about the structure of the formed crystalline lattice and its intrinsic and surface defects, vacancies, other inclusions [57,58]. The investigation of absorption curves ( fig.…”

“…The interest is determined by unique mechanical, chemical, optical and other properties that open way to a broad practical application of the material in science and technology [7,26,10,60,64]. Synthesis of oxides and other metal nanocompositions by laser ablation in a liquid environment is one of perspective methods [25,30,58]. However, the data on zirconia generation by the mentioned way is far not sufficient [11,14,15,19,33].…”