The Effect of Laser Pulse Widths on Laser—Ag Nanoparticle Interaction: Femto- to Nanosecond Lasers

The effect of the laser pulse width on the production of nanoparticles by laser fragmentation was investigated. Laser pulse widths of 164 fs, 5 ps, 4 ns, 36 ns, 64 ns, and 100 ns were used. To assess the effect of the laser pulse width on the energy distribution in the nanoparticles, the energy distribution was simulated using wave optics. Silver (Ag) nanoparticles were produced by laser irradiation of an Ag target in distilled water. The wavelength of the femtosecond, picosecond, and nanosecond lasers used was 1070 nm, and their fluences were 0.10–0.13 mJ/cm2. Nanoparticle microstructure was visualized by transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and the nanoparticle size distribution was evaluated using a particle size analyzer.