Submicrometer Spherical Particle Fabrication by Pulsed Laser Melting in Liquid

Abstract

We developed a new fabrication technique for submicrometer spherical particles by pulsed laser melting in liquid. In this technique, nanosecond pulsed laser irradiation at relatively low fl uence to nanoparticles dispersed in liquid induces particle melting to form droplets, resulting in spherical particle formation by quenching. This process produces submicrometer spherical particles of various materials, such as metals, oxides, and semiconductors. We demonstrated a few examples of spherical particle fabrication by this method and discussed the formation mechanism through the simple particle heating/melting mechanism, which is basically different from the mechanism in the conventional pulsed laser ablation in liquid.