Femtosecond laser induced nanostructuring of graphite for the fabrication of quasi-periodic nanogratings and novel carbon nanostructures

Abstract Here we have experimentally studied ultrafast femtosecond laser ablation of graphite in air and water environments for the fabrication of promising nanostructures on the graphite surface and also nanographite flakes, graphene quantum dots in water. After the fs laser irradiation in air quasi-periodic nanogratings were found on the graphite surface and when the irradiation is done in water we observed graphene quantum dots (GQDs) and graphitic flakes dispersed in the solution. The sheets consist of few layers of spongy kind of porous graphene, which form an irregular 3D porous structure. The field emission scanning electron microscopy reveals the formation of fluence dependent quasi-periodic deep-subwavelength nanogratings (Ʌ = 130–230 nm) on the surface. Several characterization methods have confirmed the formation of layered graphene and quantum dots. The studies on the solution confirmed the presence of GQDs with dimensions ranging about 2–4 nm. It is found that the formation of subwavelength structures and GQDs depends on the fs-laser energy and vary with different laser parameters such as fluence, energy, laser polarization.