ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the status and future needs in pulsed laser ablation in liquids (PLAL) of silicon for the production of SiNPs colloids with emphasis on the synthesis of photo luminescent SiNPs. It demonstrates the potentiality of SiNPs produced by PLAL and their actual implementation into practical application needs further investigation directed towards the enhancement of the PL efficiency and the increase in productivity. Online monitoring of the colloidal solution during PLAL is useful to analyse and investigate the process. As an example, online spectroscopy allows a monitoring of the size of the produced NPs and optimizing the PLAL process. PLAL of silicon is a young technology to fabricate SiNPs colloids, which holds potentiality to become a production technology. In order to bring PLAL of silicon out from its infancy much experimental work is still needed with standardization in the procedures, which will help in defining a unique picture of the methodology thus allowing optimizing and engineering the fabrication process.
