ABSTRACT
The nanosecond pulse laser was generally used in the fabrication
of a variety of nanocrystals. With much longer pulse duration
and much lower power density, microsecond-pulse-laser ablation
may correspond to dramatically different physical and chemical
processes compared to short-pulse-duration-laser ablation. In this
chapter, we present our recent experimental and theoretical
studies on the preparation of nanomaterials by microsecond-pulse-
laser ablation in liquid media. Particularly, we have synthesized
ultrafine nanodiamonds (3-6 nm)1−3 and face-centered-cubic (fcc) Si4 nanocrystals that have never been reported in published
articles on laser ablation with nanosecond pulse width. Besides, Si
and SiC nanospheres have been prepared by laser-induced phase
separation.5 One-step synthesis of fluorescent carbon nanoparticles
(CNPs),6 mixed-phase TiO2 nanospheres, 7 and noble-metal/oxide
nanocomposites8 have also been achieved by laser ablation with
a microsecond laser. Moreover, our work on controllable synthesis
of two different kinds of Si-C nanostructures by laser ablation in
gaseous carbon source9 is also included in this chapter.