Effect of electric fields on the synthesis of nanoparticles of tin and silicon in a liquid environment

The effect of externally applied electric fields on the size and morphology of nanoparticles fabricated by laser ablation was investigated. In this method, a pulsed laser beam was focused onto a solid target of either silicon or tin and the laser beam ablated the target at the liquid-solid interface. The laser beam vaporizes the target material forming a plasma plume which contains ions, electrons, nanoparticles, and nano clusters. High pressures, high temperatures and high energy densities are created in this method. These conditions are favorable for the formation of metastable phases resulting in novel products depending on the nature of the liquid and solid. The ablated products were studied under bright field transmission electron microscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. It has been found that the sizes of the nanoparticles were influenced by the application of an externally applied electric field during laser irradiation.