Fabrication of submicrometer ZnO spherical particles by pulsed laser melting in liquid

Abstract

ZnO is one of the key semiconductors, widely utilized in various applications. Due to the hexagonal crystal symmetry, various one-dimensional nanostructures, such as hexagonal nanorods, hexagonal platelets, etc., have been synthesized. Comparatively, the creation of spherical crystal of ZnO has seldom been reported, except for the submicrometer ZnO spherical particles composed of nano-sized primary particles. Here, by using a pulsed laser melting of colloidal nanoparticles of ZnO, we demonstrate the synthesis of ZnO submicrometer spheres without any inner subunits from raw nanoparticles of ZnO. The effect of laser irradiation conditions on the products will be discussed.