Temporal and spatial temperature modelling for understanding pulsed laser induced solution based nanomanufacturing

Abstract

Recently, pulsed lasers have demonstrated great potential in targeted synthesis in solution based nanomanufacturing, realizing high precision and accuracy in space, time and energy input. The unique temperature history induced by pulsed lasers is indispensable to understand the related fundamentals and to realize the precision control of deposition. In this study a heat transfer model was developed and applied to predict the temporal evolution and the spatial distribution of pulsed laser induced temperature change across the reaction sites. Chemically deposited ZnO crystals were studied as an example, showing the relationships among laser parameters and heating conditions, and deposited crystal characteristics. Peak temperature and heat accumulation induced by pulsed laser were found to affect deposited crystal number density and size. The nucleation number density distribution was found to be correlated with the spatial temperature distribution and inversely proportional to the crystal size. The presented heat transfer model is a crucial tool to understand crystallization fundamentals and it is essential for facilitating pulsed laser as a new tool for research, design, manufacturing and control.

Simulation of the Nucleation and Crystal Growth Process in the Laser-Induced Deposition in Solution by a Lattice Boltzmann Method

“…It was reported that a single laser pulse with proper energy could initiate and control the pathway of the nucleation of hematite nanocrystals [14]. During crystal growth, the peak power, average power, irradiation time, and so on will affect the morphology of deposited ZnO crystals [15]. However, it is still challenging to precisely manipulate heat and mass transfer only through experiments [11].…”

Observation of New Dynamics of Transitions among Intermediate Species in Crystal Evolution and Its Role in a Generic Model of Crystallization

“…Zinc oxide (ZnO) is one of the most common oxides that could be easily produced by hydrothermal reaction. In this work, ZnO as a vehicle for the study of crystallization was produced by the pulsed laser method. − The pulsed laser as a new tool to study the crystallization , could “freeze” the crystallization process in a stepwise manner. For example, the nucleation could be initiated by a single laser pulse, and the following aging processes, such as recrystallization or dissolution–reprecipitation, could be inhibited after the single pulse .…”