Pulsed laser synthesis of functional nanomaterials

在纳米尺度上(比人的头发还细1000倍)，材料的性质可能与我们所熟悉的非常不同。纳米技术是利用这些往往优越的特性来促进人类的技术进步，并可能成为21世纪工业革命的驱动力，使各种各样的高科技设备变得司空见惯--从微型计算机到芯片实验室，在人们通过机场安检时，这些设备可以快速筛查爆炸物残留物。随着纳米技术在未来十年的发展，人们对纳米级高科技材料的需求也将飙升，从而带来丰厚的利润。然而，在这些纳米材料能够在市场上占据主导地位之前，需要廉价、低温、大规模的生产方法。此外，涉及材料自行组装的方法，而不是昂贵和耗时的图案制作，将在商业活动中变得更加重要。准分子激光是一种不可见的紫外线光源，可以发射持续时间约为百万分之一秒的脉冲。然而，这些非常短的脉冲仍然包含大量能量，因此在脉冲期间提供的功率可以类似于发电站的输出！对于大多数材料来说，波长较短的聚焦激光在较薄的表面区被吸收，使得放置在焦点上的各种材料能够熔化和汽化。这形成了一种非常通用的材料沉积和改性系统的基础。这项研究将集中于使用这些高功率、短脉冲激光生产技术相关的纳米材料的新技术，如纳米泡沫、纳米线圈和纳米管。

On the nanometer scale (1000 times thinner than a human hair) the properties of materials can be very different to those we are familiar with. Nanotechnology is the utilisation of these, often superior, properties for the technological advancement of mankind and may be the driving force behind an industrial revolution in the 21st century, making commonplace a wide variety of high-tech devices - everything from miniature computers to labs on a chip that can rapidly screen people for explosive residues as they go through airport security. As nanotechnology ramps up over the next decade, expectations are high that demand for high-tech materials with length on the nanometer scale will skyrocket as well, leading to big profits. However, before these nanomaterials can become dominant in the marketplace cheap, low temperature, large-scale methods for production are required. Also, methods that involve the materials assembling themselves, rather than expensive and time consuming patterning, will become more important for commercial activities. Excimer lasers are a source of invisible, ultra-violet, light which deliver pulses with durations of around a hundred millionths of a second. These very short pulses still contain lots of energy, however, so the power supplied during the pulse can be similar to the output of a power station! Focused laser light with short wavelengths is absorbed in a thin surface region, for the majority of materials, allowing melting and vaporisation of a wide variety of materials placed at the focal point. This forms the basis of a very versatile material deposition and modification system. This research would concentrate on new techniques for using these high power, short pulsed, lasers for the production of technologically relevant nanomaterials, such as nanofoams, nanocoils and nanotubes.