Catalytic nanoparticles for carbon nanotube growth synthesized by through thin film femtosecond laser ablation

The synthesis of metal nanoparticles by femtosecond laser vaporization of nm-thickness metal films is explored with the goal of comparing the salient features of femtosecond-based through thin film laser ablation (TTFA) to that of ns TTFA, and testing the feasibility of direct synthesis of clean nanoparticle alloys to explore the synthesis of carbon nanotubes by chemical vapor deposition. It is demonstrated that evaporated metal films are cleanly removed from quartz substrates using the technique, producing a highly forward-directed plume of nanoparticles (angle of divergence of ∼2.5°) which were cleanly deposited onto different supports for analysis. TEM showed the nanoparticles were spherical with diameters that ranged from a few nm to hundreds of nm in a bimodal fashion. Unlike ns-TTFA, it was found that raising the pressure had no effect on the intensity of the smaller mode within the distribution, suggesting that nanoparticle formation by gas phase condensation was not at play under the present conditions. Close examination of size distributions from a 20 and 10nm Pt film revealed an 80nm downshift in the position of the large mode within the distribution, suggesting film thickness may provide a route to controlling the modal distribution of nanoparticles produced by this method. Lastly, particles sourced by a Fe/Mo bilayer film were found to be effective in growing single wall carbon nanotubes by atmospheric chemical vapor deposition, indicating sufficiently small and catalytically active particles were produced.