Fabrication of silver nanoparticle films by pulsed laser deposition in flowless open air and studying the effects of laser fluence and number of pulses

In the present work, pulsed laser deposition of silver in open air is used to fabricate Ag nanoparticle (NP) films on the substrate without using flowing gas. The target was ablated by trains of nanosecond pulsed Nd:YAG laser beam. The deposited NP films on the substrate were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) characteristics of NPs were extracted from the data of UV/Vis spectrum. Mean size and size distribution of NPs were achieved by analyzing the FESEM images and using image processing technique. In order to show an application of the fabricated NP film in sensors, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) of NP films were inspected. The results of SERS show that the fabricated NP films can significantly enhance Raman signals.

Automated summary

In this study, pulsed laser deposition was used to fabricate Ag nanoparticle films in open air without flowing gas. The films were characterized using FESEM, HRTEM, and UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy, and the surface plasmon resonance characteristics were extracted from the UV/Vis spectrum. The fabricated NP films showed significant enhancement in Raman signals, demonstrating their potential application in sensors.