Comparison of picosecond and nanosecond lasers for the synthesis of TiN sub-micrometer spherical particles by pulsed laser melting in liquid

Abstract

In this study, TiN sub-micrometer spherical particles were fabricated by pulsed laser melting in liquid using picosecond and nanosecond lasers applied to colloidal nanoparticles. The sizes of the obtained sub-micrometer spherical particles decreased as the pulse width decreased from nanoseconds to picoseconds. Furthermore, the laser fluence required for fabricating sub-micrometer spherical particles by irradiation was lower with a picosecond laser than with a nanosecond laser. This result suggests that the heat loss from the particles during pulsed laser heating is lower with shorter laser pulse durations. Therefore, picosecond laser irradiation is an energy-efficient method for fabricating sub-micrometer spherical particles.