Silicon nanoparticle generation and deposition on glass from waste silicon powder by nanosecond pulsed laser irradiation

Abstract Silicon nanoparticles can be used for fabricating electrodes in high-performance lithium ion batteries and other high value-added products. Currently, silicon nanoparticles are fabricated by pulsed laser irradiation of single-crystal silicon wafers in water. In this study, we proposed silicon nanoparticle generation by using a nanosecond pulsed laser to irradiate waste silicon powder which is disposed from wire-saw slicing processes of silicon ingots. The laser-induced nanoparticles were backward-transferred and deposited on a glass substrate. It was found that the morphology and amount of the deposited nanoparticles was strongly dependent on the distance between the glass substrate and the waste silicon powder target. Raman spectroscopy showed that the silicon nanoparticles were crystalline, and the average size was ~10 nm. The obtained silicon nanoparticles had high purity, as the diamond abrasives included in the waste silicon powder were removed through oxidation and vaporization during laser irradiation.