Mobility of Nanoparticles Generated by Femtosecond Laser Ablation in Liquids and Its Application to Surface Patterning

Metal nanoparticles have been generated in deionized water and acetone by femtosecond-pulsed laser ablation. The expansion velocity was measured in-process in dependence on pulse energy using particle tracking image velocimetry. Particle size distributions of silver were determined at periodic time intervals during the generation process, reaching stabilization level around 50 nm after 510 5 pulses. Electrophoretic mobility of laser-generated metal nanoparticles was studied by laser scattering velocimetry and the electrophoretic deposition of charged nanoparticles was used to generate nanoparticle-derived nanostructures on 3-dimensional microstructured surfaces.