Synthesis of nanosize powders by pulsed laser ablation and related plasma diagnostics

Abstract

Nanosize powders of AlN was successfully synthesized by pulsed laser ablation. The target can be either Al or AlN, with ambient gas nitrogen. With Al targets, typical powder diameters were in the range of 2.5 divided by 25 nm. In order to study the process of powder formation, we have used a high-speed camera and a time-resolved spectrum analyzing system to investigate the behavior of the ablation plasma and the ion species in the plasma. For the diagnostic experiments, the target was Al and the ambient gas was oxygen.