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 submicrometer spherical particles were fabricated via pulsed laser melting in liquid using picosecond and nanosecond lasers applied to colloidal nanoparticles. The sizes of the obtained submicrometer spherical particles decreased as the pulse width decreased from nanoseconds to picoseconds. Further, the laser fluence required for fabricating submicrometer spherical particles by irradiation with a picosecond laser was lower than that 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 submicrometer spherical particles.