Synthesis of nanosized particles during laser ablation of gold in water

In this paper we report the formation of gold nanoparticles during laser ablation of gold target in water in the absence of any additives. The experiments were carried out by using the radiation of the pulsed Nd:YAG laser, operating at the second (532 nm, 10 ns, 10 Hz), or the fourth harmonic (266 nm) wavelengths. The properties of the nanoparticles were found to be susceptible to the additional 532 and 266 nm laser irradiation. It has been established that both the mean size of the nanoparticles and their stability could be varied by proper selection of the parameters of laser ablation and postirradiation such as laser fluence and wavelength combinations.