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Femtosecond Photon-Mediated Plasma Enhances Photosynthesis Of Plasmonic Nanostructures And Their Sers Applications, Peng Ran, Lan Jiang, Xin Li, Bo Li, Pei Zuo, Yongfeng Lu

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

Laser ablation in liquid has proven to be a universal and green method to synthesize nanocrystals and fabricate functional nanostructures. This study demonstrates the superiority of femtosecond laser-mediated plasma in enhancing photoredox of metal cations for controllable fabrication of plasmonic nanostructures in liquid. Through employing upstream high energetic plasma during laser-induced microexplosions, single/three-electron photoreduction of metallic cations can readily occur without chemical reductants or capping agents. Experimental evidences demonstrate that this process exhibits higher photon utilization efficiency in yield of colloidal metal nanoparticles than direct irradiation of metallic precursors. Photogenerated hydrated electrons derived from strong ionization of silicon and water …