Laser-produced plasma: Fabrication of size-controlled metallic nanoparticles

The importance of high-power pulsed laser for ablating solid targets, both metallic and nonmetallic, has been realized in the scientific community. The potential of this technique has been explored for various applications, ranging from surface processing of metals, to dentistry, to thin film deposition. However, laser ablation, as a method for nanoparticle fabrication, has not been as widely explored as other methods based on wet chemistry, vapor deposition, etc. One of the primary reasons behind this has been the inherent challenges associated with controlling the size distribution of the produced nanoparticles. This chapter, written based on the authors’ already published work in related areas, aims to introduce the idea of fabrication of metallic nanoparticles by means of laser ablation, while having control over their size distribution. The idea has been duly corroborated with the existing theoretical knowledge and experimental observations reported in the literature.