Temporal and spatial temperature modelling for understanding pulsed laser induced solution based nanomanufacturing

Nanotechnology. 2020 Aug 7;31(32):325601. doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ab8c09. Epub 2020 Apr 22.

Abstract

Recently, pulsed lasers have demonstrated great potential in targeted synthesis in solution based nanomanufacturing, realizing high precision and accuracy in space, time and energy input. The unique temperature history induced by pulsed lasers is indispensable to understand the related fundamentals and to realize the precision control of deposition. In this study a heat transfer model was developed and applied to predict the temporal evolution and the spatial distribution of pulsed laser induced temperature change across the reaction sites. Chemically deposited ZnO crystals were studied as an example, showing the relationships among laser parameters and heating conditions, and deposited crystal characteristics. Peak temperature and heat accumulation induced by pulsed laser were found to affect deposited crystal number density and size. The nucleation number density distribution was found to be correlated with the spatial temperature distribution and inversely proportional to the crystal size. The presented heat transfer model is a crucial tool to understand crystallization fundamentals and it is essential for facilitating pulsed laser as a new tool for research, design, manufacturing and control.