Nanomanufacturing via fast laser-induced self-organization in thin metal films

Robust nanomanufacturing methodologies are crucial towards realizing simple and cost-effective products. Here we discuss nanofabrication of ordered metal nanoparticles through pulsed-laser-induced self-organization. When ultrathin metal films are exposed to short laser pulses, spontaneous pattern formation results under appropriate conditions. Under uniform laser irradiation two competing modes of self-organization are observed. One, a thin film hydrodynamic dewetting instability due to the competition between surface tension and attractive van der Waals interactions, results in nanoparticles with well-defined and predictable interparticle spacings and sizes with short range spatial order. The second, thermocapillary flow due to interference between the incident beam and a scattered surface wave, results in laser induced periodic surface structures. Non-uniform laser irradiation, such as by 2-beam laser interference irradiation, initiates a tunable thermocapillary effect in the film giving rise to nanowires, and continued laser irradiation leads to a Rayleigh-like breakup of the nanowires producing nanoparticles with spatial long-range and short-range order. These self-organizing approaches appear to be applicable to a variety of metal films, including Co, Cu, Ag, Fe, Ni, Pt, Zn, Ti, V and Mn. These results suggest that laser-induced self-organization in thin films could be an attractive route to nanomanufacture well-defined nanoparticle arrangements for applications in optical information processing, sensing and solar energy harvesting.