Laser fragmentation of colloidal submicron-sized bismuth ferrite particles was performed by irradiating a liquid jet to synthesize bismuth ferrite nanoparticles. This treatment achieved a size reduction from 450 nm to below 10 nm. A circular and an elliptical fluid jet were compared to control the energy distribution within the fluid jet and thereby the product size distribution and educt decomposition. The resulting colloids were analysed via UV-VIS, XRD and TEM. All methods were used to gain information on size distribution, material morphology and composition. It was found that using an elliptical liquid jet during the laser fragmentation leads to a slightly smaller and narrower size distribution of the resulting product compared to the circular jet.
Keywords: multiferroic; nanoparticles; picosecond; ray tracing; size reduction.