Influence of the reactive atmosphere on the formation of nanoparticles in the plasma plume induced by nanosecond pulsed laser irradiation of metallic targets at atmospheric pressure and high repetition rate

M. Girault (1, 2) , Jean-Luc Le Garrec (3) , James Brian Alexander Mitchell (3) , J. -M. Jouvard (1) , Erwann Carvou (3) , Jérôme Menneveux (4) , J. Yu (4) , F. -X. Ouf (5) , Sophie Carles (3) , V. Potin (1) , G. Pillon (1) , S. Bourgeois (1) , J. Perez (6) , M. C. Marco de Lucas (1) , L Lavisse (1)

1 ICB - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne
2 CELIA - Centre d'Etudes Lasers Intenses et Applications
3 IPR - Institut de Physique de Rennes
4 ILM - Institut Lumière Matière [Villeurbanne]
5 IRSN - Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire
6 SSOLEIL - Synchrotron SOLEIL

The influence of a reactive atmosphere on the formation of nanoparticles (NPs) in the plasma plume generated by nanosecond pulsed laser irradiation of metal targets (Ti, Al, Ag) was probed in-situ using Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS). Air and different O2-N2 gas mixtures were used as reactive gas within atmospheric pressure. SAXS results showed the formation of NPs in the plasma-plume with a mean radius varying in the 2-5 nm range. A decrease of the NPs size with increasing the O2 percentage in the O2-N2 gas mixture was also showed. Ex-situ observations by transmission electron microscopy and structural characterizations by x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy were also performed for powders collected in experiments done using air as ambient gas. The stability of the different metal oxides is discussed as being a key parameter influencing the formation of NPs in the plasma-plume (E-MRS 2015 Spring Meeting Symposium CC: “Laser and plasma processing for advanced applications in material science”, 11-15 May 2015, Lille (France)

Keywords: Laser ablation; metal oxides stability; nanoparticles; SAXS

Domains: Physics [physics]

M. Girault, Jean-Luc Le Garrec, James Brian Alexander Mitchell, J. -M. Jouvard, Erwann Carvou, et al.. Influence of the reactive atmosphere on the formation of nanoparticles in the plasma plume induced by nanosecond pulsed laser irradiation of metallic targets at atmospheric pressure and high repetition rate. Applied Surface Science, 2016, 374, pp.132-137. ⟨10.1016/j.apsusc.2015.10.090⟩. ⟨hal-01225623⟩