Laser Assisted Synthesis, Structural and Magnetic Characterization of Gadolinium Germano-Silicide Nanoparticles in Liquid

In this paper the ternary Gd-5(Si1-xGex)(4) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by laser assisted techniques in liquid and their crystal structure, morphology and magnetic properties were investigated. To prepare compound gadolinium germano-silicide NPs we used laser irradiation processes in two different ways. First, the compound NPs were synthesized by four step process which involved the sequential ablation of silicon, gadolinium and germanium targets followed by additional laser irradiation of the formed colloid. Second, laser irradiation of the relevant target consisted of Gd-5(Si1-xGex)(4) alloy produced by thermal melting of the stoichiometric mixture of the virgin components (powders) in an argon atmosphere in a water-cooled graphite oven was used. The last two-step approach was shown to be more effective the production of Gd-Si-Ge alloys for practical applications.