Silicon and zinc telluride nanoparticles synthesized by low energy density pulsed laser ablation into ambient gases

Douglas H. Lowndes, Christopher M. Rouleau, T. G. Thundat, G. Duscher, E. A. Kenik, S. J. Pennycook

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

53 Scopus citations

Abstract

The size distributions of Si and ZnTe nanoparticles produced by low energy density ArF (193 nm) pulsed laser ablation into ambient gases were measured as a function of the gas pressure, P, and target-substrate separation, Dts. For both Si and ZnTe, the largest nanoparticles were found closest to the ablation target, and the mean nanoparticle size decreased with increasing Dts. For Si ablation into He, the mean nanoparticle diameter did not increase monotonically with gas pressure but reached a maximum near P = 6 Torr. High resolution Z-contrast transmission electron microscopy and energy loss spectroscopy revealed that ZnTe nanoparticles consist of a crystalline core surrounded by an amorphous ZnO shell; growth defects and surface steps are clearly visible in the crystalline core. A pronounced narrowing of the ZnTe nanocrystal size distribution with increasing Dts also was found. The results demonstrate that the size of laser-ablated nanoparticles can be controlled by varying the molecular weight and pressure of an ambient gas and that nanometer-scale particles can be synthesized. Larger aggregates of both ZnTe and Si having a 'flakelike' or 'weblike' structure were formed at the higher ambient gas pressures; for ZnTe these appear to be open agglomerates of much smaller (approx. 10 nm) particles.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)359-370
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Materials Research
Volume14
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1999

Funding

The authors thank P. H. Fleming for assistance with analysis of the HRSEM nanoparticle images. This research was sponsored by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp. for the United States Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-96OR22464.

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