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Fundamentals and Applications of Laser Micro/Nanostructuring and Synthesis of Micro/Nanomaterials

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 March 2023) | Viewed by 21800

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Dr. Dongshi Zhang

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Guest Editor

Shanghai Key Laboratory of Materials Laser Processing and Modification, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Interests: femtosecond laser; laser ablation in liquids; LIPSS; nanomaterial synthesis; micro/nanostructuring

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to provide a forum to display the latest advances in surface structuring and colloid synthesis, the two “birds” achieved with the one “stone” of laser ablation, which lay the foundation for various applications in the fields of optics, biology, catalysis, sensing, etc. Fundamental advances such as productivity upscaling, discovery of new phenomena, new insights that shed light into previously found unclear phenomena, preparation of new structures and synthesis of novel nanomaterials, as well as exploration of different laser-prepared structures and nanomaterials in different applications are welcome. Others, such as new laser-based technique development, downstream processing, dynamics simulation, and device preparation on the basis of laser structuring and laser synthesis of materials, will also be considered for publication. Any type of laser can be adopted for presentation, including femtosecond, picosecond, nanosecond, microsecond, and millisecond and continuous lasers. The ablation environment can be flexibly chosen in air, liquid, vacuum, or gas. It is hoped that this issue can promote a global idea exchange within the scope of laser ablation.

Dr. Dongshi Zhang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

femtosecond laser
laser ablation in liquids
LIPSS
nanomaterial synthesis
micro/nanostructuring

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Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 7086 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Corrosion Behavior of High-Nitrogen Steel Hybrid Welded Joints Fabricated by Hybrid Laser–Arc Welding

by Xianxian You, Kai Ning, Di Bai, Yanwei Liu, Hong Zhang and Fengde Liu

Materials 2023, 16(10), 3617; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16103617 - 9 May 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1564

Abstract

To study the corrosion mechanism of high-nitrogen steel welds, this study investigated the effects of laser outputs on the corrosion behavior of high-nitrogen steel hybrid welded joints in hybrid laser–arc welding. The relationship between the ferrite content and laser output was characterized. The ferrite content increased with the increase in the laser power. The corrosion phenomenon first occurred at the two-phase interface, thereby forming corrosion pits. Ferritic dendrites were first corroded to form dendritic corrosion channels. Furthermore, first-principles calculations were performed to investigate the properties of the austenite and ferrite content. The work function and surface energy indicated that solid-solution nitrogen austenite exhibits a higher surface structural stability than austenite and ferrite. This study provides useful information for high-nitrogen steel weld corrosion. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fundamentals and Applications of Laser Micro/Nanostructuring and Synthesis of Micro/Nanomaterials)

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14 pages, 6737 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Coupling Characteristics of Powder and Laser of Coaxial Cone Nozzle for Laser Direct Metal Deposition: Numerical Simulation and Experimental Study

by Zhenhao Wang, Kaihua Hu, Lin Yang, Jian Zhang, Honghui Ding and Zelong Pan

Materials 2023, 16(9), 3403; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16093403 - 26 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1556

Abstract

Laser direct metal deposition (LDMD) enables not only the preparation of high-performance coatings on the surfaces of low-property materials but also the three-dimensional direct manufacturing and re-manufacturing of parts. In the LDMD process, the spatial coupling characteristics of the powder flow and the laser beam are the key factors affecting the forming quality of the cladding layer. Based on the gas–solid two-phase flow theory, a numerical model of coaxial powder feeding was established by CFD. The powder flow characteristics of the lower part of the nozzle, the powder particle motion trajectory, and the optical-powder spatial coupling morphology and law were studied, and the relationship between the powder flow morphology, laser beam, and powder utilization was explored. On this basis, the law between the optical-powder coupling characteristics and the geometric characteristics of the cladding layer is discussed in conjunction with LDMD experiments. The results show that the powder concentration scalar located in the focal plane of the laser beam can be used to visualize the optical-powder coupling morphology. When the powder feeding speed exceeds the loading capacity of the carrier gas flow, the powder concentration in the center of the spot and the powder utilization rate decrease. When the carrier gas flow rate is 4.0 L/min and the powder feeding rate is 4.0 g/min, the best utilization rate achieved is 81.4%. In addition, the H (height) of the cladding layer is more sensitive to changes in the powder concentration than the W (width). These findings provide new ideas for nozzle structure design and the optimization of LDMD parameters. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fundamentals and Applications of Laser Micro/Nanostructuring and Synthesis of Micro/Nanomaterials)

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11 pages, 4281 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Femtosecond Laser Fabrication of Curved Plasma Channels with Low Surface Roughness and High Circularity for Multistage Laser-Wakefield Accelerators

by Hongyang Deng, Ziyang Zhang, Min Chen, Jianlong Li, Qiang Cao and Xuejiao Hu

Materials 2023, 16(8), 3278; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16083278 - 21 Apr 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1883

Abstract

A multistage laser-wakefield accelerator with curved plasma channels was proposed to accelerate electrons to TeV energy levels. In this condition, the capillary is discharged to produce plasma channels. The channels will be used as waveguides to guide intense lasers to drive wakefields inside the channel. In this work, a curved plasma channel with low surface roughness and high circularity was fabricated by a femtosecond laser ablation method based on response surface methodology. The details of the fabrication and performance of the channel are introduced here. Experiments show that such a channel can be successfully used to guide lasers, and electrons with an energy of 0.7 GeV were achieved. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fundamentals and Applications of Laser Micro/Nanostructuring and Synthesis of Micro/Nanomaterials)

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10 pages, 5154 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of WC Content on Microstructure and Properties of CoCrFeNi HEA Composite Coating on 316L Surface via Laser Cladding

by Jiang Huang, Zhikai Zhu, Hao Wang, Kaiyue Li, Wenqing Shi and Tianwen Jiao

Materials 2023, 16(7), 2706; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16072706 - 28 Mar 2023

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1672

Abstract

Laser cladding technology is used to fabricate CoCrFeNi HEA/WC composite coatings with different mass fractions of WC on the surface of 316L stainless steel. The microstructures of HEA/WC composite coatings were analyzed by combining multiple characterization techniques. The results show that the HEA/WC composite coatings have good surface formation without pores and hot cracks, and the metallurgical bonding is well formed between the coating and the 316L SS substrate. Under the action of a laser beam and molten pool, WC particles partially or slightly melt and diffuse to the matrix, which hinders the orderly growth of grains and forms multiple strengthening. The phase structure of the HEA/WC composite coatings is composed of a main phase with FCC. The hardness and corrosion resistance of the HEA/WC composite coatings are clearly enhanced, and the HEA/WC composite coating with 5% WC has optimum properties. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fundamentals and Applications of Laser Micro/Nanostructuring and Synthesis of Micro/Nanomaterials)

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12 pages, 4260 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Reflectivity Enhanced 3D Optical Storage Nanostructure Application Based on Direct Laser Writing Lithography

by Lei Song, Dekun Yang, Zhidan Lei, Qimeng Sun, Zhiwen Chen and Yi Song

Materials 2023, 16(7), 2668; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16072668 - 27 Mar 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1581

Abstract

To enable high-density optical storage, better storage media structures, diversified recording methods, and improved accuracy of readout schemes should be considered. In this study, we propose a novel three-dimensional (3D) sloppy nanostructure as the optical storage device, and this nanostructure can be fabricated using the 3D laser direct writing technology. It is a 900 nm high, 1 × 2 µm wide Si slope on a 200 nm SiO2 layer with 200 nm Si₃N₄ deposited on top to enhance reflectivity. In this study, we propose a reflected spectrum-based method as the readout recording strategy to stabilize information readout more stable. The corresponding reflected spectrum varied when the side wall angle of the slope and the azimuth angle of the nanostructure were tuned. In addition, an artificial neural network was applied to readout the stored information from the reflected spectrum. To simulate the realistic fabrication error and measurement error, a 20% noise level was added to the study. Our findings showed that the readout accuracy was 99.86% for all 120 data sequences when the slope and azimuth angle were varied. We investigated the possibility of a higher storage density to fully demonstrate the storage superiority of this designed structure. Our findings also showed that the readout accuracy can reach its highest level at 97.25% when the storage step of the encoded structure becomes 7.5 times smaller. The study provides the possibility to further explore different nanostructures to achieve high-density optical storage. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fundamentals and Applications of Laser Micro/Nanostructuring and Synthesis of Micro/Nanomaterials)

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21 pages, 5112 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Irradiation Parameters on Structure and Properties of Oak Wood Surface Engraved with a CO₂ Laser

by Jozef Kúdela, Ivan Kubovský and Michal Andrejko

Materials 2022, 15(23), 8384; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15238384 - 25 Nov 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1828

Abstract

The work investigates the effects of CO₂ laser parameters (laser power and raster density) on wood mass loss in oak wood and impacts on its morphology, chemical structure, and surface properties (colour and hydrophilicity). The energy amount supplied onto the wood surface with a laser beam under different combinations of the irradiation parameters was expressed through a single variable—total irradiation dose. The mass loss was confirmed as linear-dependent on the irradiation dose. With the mass reduction, the roughness was enhanced. The roughness parameters Ra and Rz increased linearly with the mass loss associated with the increasing irradiation dose. The FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) spectroscopy also detected chemical changes in the main wood components, influencing primarily the wood colour space. Conspicuous discolouration of the engraved wood surface was observed, occurring just at the minimum laser power and raster density. The additional increasing of laser parameters caused a novel colour compared to the original one. The detected dependence of wood discolouration on the total irradiation dose enables us to perform targeted discolouration of the oak wood. The engraved surfaces manifested significantly better wettability with standard liquids, both polar and non-polar, and higher surface energy values. This guarantees appropriate adhesion of film-forming materials to wood. Identification of the changes in wood surface structure and properties, induced by specific CO₂ laser-treatments, is important for obtaining targeted discolouration of the wood surface as well as for the gluing or finishing of the surfaces treated in this way. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fundamentals and Applications of Laser Micro/Nanostructuring and Synthesis of Micro/Nanomaterials)

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15 pages, 4562 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimization of Micro-Texturing Process Parameters of TiAlN Coated Cutting Tools by Femtosecond Laser

by Xuefeng Wu, Jinming Zhan and Sanlin Mei

Materials 2022, 15(19), 6519; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15196519 - 20 Sep 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1523

Abstract

Coated cemented carbide currently represents most of all cutting tool inserts due to its unique combination of wear resistance and toughness. Surface texturing technology can give additional performance to reduce the tool’s wear and energy consumption. Using TiAlN-coated cemented carbide tools as the research object, the effects of femtosecond laser parameters (laser energy, scanning speed, scanning times) on the groove morphology of TiAlN-coated tools and the bonding state of coating and substrate were discussed. The study found that when the laser energy was 10 μJ, the scanning speed was 0.7 mm/s, and the number of scans was 5, the groove morphology was ideal, and the coating and the substrate combination remained unchanged. The influence of micro-groove texture on the tool wear mechanism was investigated by cutting test using the micro-groove texture tool produced by this group of process parameters. The flank wear value of inserts with micro-grooved texture decreased significantly by around 25%. This work provides practical data to support the femtosecond laser processing of TiAlN-coated tools. It is helpful to understand further the processing mechanism of a femtosecond laser on the micro-texture of coated tools. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fundamentals and Applications of Laser Micro/Nanostructuring and Synthesis of Micro/Nanomaterials)

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11 pages, 2112 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Polarization-Dependent Scattering of Nanogratings in Femtosecond Laser Photowritten Waveguides in Fused Silica

by Guanghua Cheng, Ling Lin, Konstantin Mishchik and Razvan Stoian

Materials 2022, 15(16), 5698; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15165698 - 18 Aug 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1557

Abstract

The properties of polarization-selective, light-guiding systems upon subwavelength nanogratings formation in the case of type II refractive index traces induced by femtosecond laser pulses in bulk fused silica were studied. Polarization-dependent scattering is analyzed both in simulation using a finite-difference, time-domain method and in experiments. We argue that the polarization-sensitive optical guiding of type II waveguides is due to polarization-dependent scattering of nanogratings. Optical designs can then be suggested where the guiding efficiency of type I traces can be combined with type II anisotropies. A low-loss waveguide polarizer is demonstrated based on the modulation of the evanescent field emerging from type I waveguides using polarization-dependent scattering of neighboring nanogratings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fundamentals and Applications of Laser Micro/Nanostructuring and Synthesis of Micro/Nanomaterials)

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17 pages, 14903 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Regular Periodic Surface Structures on Indium Tin Oxide Film Efficiently Fabricated by Femtosecond Laser Direct Writing with a Cylindrical Lens

by Long Chen, Jian Yang, Qilin Jiang, Kaiqiang Cao, Jukun Liu, Tianqing Jia, Zhenrong Sun and Hongxing Xu

Materials 2022, 15(15), 5092; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15155092 - 22 Jul 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2061

Abstract

Regular laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) were efficiently fabricated on indium tin oxide (ITO) films by femtosecond laser direct writing with a cylindrical lens. It was found that randomly distributed nanoparticles and high spatial frequency LIPSSs (HSFL) formed on the surface after a small number of cumulative incident laser pulses per spot, and regular low spatial frequency LIPSSs (LSFL) appeared when more laser pulses accumulated. The mechanism of the transition was studied by real-time absorptance measurement and theoretical simulation. Results show that the interference between incident laser and surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) excited by random surface scatterers facilitates the formation of prototype LSFLs, which in turn enhances light absorption and SPP excitation following laser pulses. The effects of scanning velocity and laser fluence on LSFL quality were discussed in detail. Moreover, large-area extremely regular LSFL with a diameter of 30 mm were efficiently fabricated on an ITO film by femtosecond laser direct writing with the cylindrical lens. The fabricated LSFLs on the ITO film demonstrate vivid structural color. During LSFL processing, the decrease of ITO film thickness leads to the increase of near-infrared optical transmittance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fundamentals and Applications of Laser Micro/Nanostructuring and Synthesis of Micro/Nanomaterials)

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25 pages, 9069 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Picosecond Bessel Beam Fabricated Pure, Gold-Coated Silver Nanostructures for Trace-Level Sensing of Multiple Explosives and Hazardous Molecules

by Dipanjan Banerjee, Mangababu Akkanaboina, Subhasree Ghosh and Venugopal Rao Soma

Materials 2022, 15(12), 4155; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15124155 - 11 Jun 2022

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 2561

Abstract

A zeroth-order, non-diffracting Bessel beam, generated by picosecond laser pulses (1064 nm, 10 Hz, 30 ps) through an axicon, was utilized to perform pulse energy-dependent (12 mJ, 16 mJ, 20 mJ, 24 mJ) laser ablation of silver (Ag) substrates in air. The fabrication resulted in finger-like Ag nanostructures (NSs) in the sub-200 nm domain and obtained structures were characterized using the FESEM and AFM techniques. Subsequently, we employed those Ag NSs in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) studies achieving promising sensing results towards trace-level detection of six different hazardous materials (explosive molecules of picric acid (PA) and ammonium nitrate (AN), a pesticide thiram (TH) and the dye molecules of Methylene Blue (MB), Malachite Green (MG), and Nile Blue (NB)) along with a biomolecule (hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL)). The remarkably superior plasmonic behaviour exhibited by the AgNS corresponding to 16 mJ pulse ablation energy was further explored. To accomplish a real-time application-oriented understanding, time-dependent studies were performed utilizing the AgNS prepared with 16 mJ and TH molecule by collecting the SERS data periodically for up to 120 days. The coated AgNSs were prepared with optimized gold (Au) deposition, accomplishing a much lower trace detection in the case of thiram (~50 pM compared to ~50 nM achieved prior to the coating) as well as superior EF up to ~10⁸ (~10⁶ before Au coating). Additionally, these substrates have demonstrated superior stability compared to those obtained before Au coating. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fundamentals and Applications of Laser Micro/Nanostructuring and Synthesis of Micro/Nanomaterials)

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42 pages, 21104 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Principles and Applications of Resonance Energy Transfer Involving Noble Metallic Nanoparticles

by Zhicong He, Fang Li, Pei Zuo and Hong Tian

Materials 2023, 16(8), 3083; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16083083 - 13 Apr 2023

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2745

Abstract

Over the past several years, resonance energy transfer involving noble metallic nanoparticles has received considerable attention. The aim of this review is to cover advances in resonance energy transfer, widely exploited in biological structures and dynamics. Due to the presence of surface plasmons, strong surface plasmon resonance absorption and local electric field enhancement are generated near noble metallic nanoparticles, and the resulting energy transfer shows potential applications in microlasers, quantum information storage devices and micro-/nanoprocessing. In this review, we present the basic principle of the characteristics of noble metallic nanoparticles, as well as the representative progress in resonance energy transfer involving noble metallic nanoparticles, such as fluorescence resonance energy transfer, nanometal surface energy transfer, plasmon-induced resonance energy transfer, metal-enhanced fluorescence, surface-enhanced Raman scattering and cascade energy transfer. We end this review with an outlook on the development and applications of the transfer process. This will offer theoretical guidance for further optical methods in distance distribution analysis and microscopic detection. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fundamentals and Applications of Laser Micro/Nanostructuring and Synthesis of Micro/Nanomaterials)

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