Preparation and characterization of bismuth nanostructures deposited by pulsed laser ablation

Abstract

Bismuth nanostructures, from nanoparticles to quasi-percolated films, were deposited by pulsed laser ablation (PLA) on different substrates using the 355 nm line of a Nd:YAG laser. The morphology and size distribution of the obtained nanostructures were investigated, as a function of the number of ablation pulses, by high resolution electron microscopy (HRTEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Deposits with a small number of pulses, 50, are formed of separated isolated particles with diameters in the range from 5 to 20 nm. Further increase in the number of pulses (>100) results in coalescence of individual particles with the formation of dendritic structures and finally, for 500 pulses, quasi-percolated Bi films are obtained. Additionally, the nanostructures formed were characterized by XPS, and Raman spectroscopy in order to determine the physical and chemical properties of the deposited material.