Pulsed laser irradiation of colloidal nanoparticles: a new synthesis route for the production of non-equilibrium bimetallic alloy submicrometer spheres

A new one-step approach was developed to synthesize bimetallic alloy submicrometer spheres, which are immiscible under equilibrium, using AuCo as a model system. Uniform, single-phase AuCo alloy submicrometer particles (similar to 230 nm) with a well-defined spherical morphology were successfully formed via pulsed laser irradiation of Au and Co-oxides nanoparticles dispersed in ethanol and characterized with a combination of electron microscopy, diffraction and magnetization measurements.