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Laser manipulation of the size and shape of supported metal nanoparticles

J. Bosbach, C. Hendrich, F. Stietz, T. Vartanyan, T. Wenzel, F. Träger
Universität Kassel, Fachbereich Physik

Abstract
Laser manipulation of the size and shape of metal nanoparticles generated by self-assembly of atoms on dielectric substrates is discussed. Techniques are presented that allow one to prepare nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution and with welldefined shape by using laser irradiation after and during particle growth. Optical spectroscopy of supported nanoparticles is demonstrated to be a very versatile tool for characterizing the particles in addition to direct imaging by scanning probe microscopy. We also show that laser manipulation of the size or shape of nanoparticles can be used to determine the homogeneous linewidth of surface plasmon excitation and thus examine the ultrafast decay time of this collective electron oscillation in nanoparticles. Prospects for future experiments in this field and applications of monodisperse nanoparticles are outlined.

Keywords: Nanostructures, nanoparticles, laser ablation, silver, surface plasmon, size manipulation, dephasing time, ultrafast electron dynamics, © SPIE