Laser Ablation of Stainless Steel in Water and Hexane: Characterization of Surface Modification and Nanoparticles for Various Applications

This work investigates the effect of a liquid medium on the roughness and the chemical composition of an ablated, stainless steel target, as well as on various properties of the laser-generated nanoparticles, such as absorption, hardness, and yield; in addition, some possible applications of laser ablation in both water and hexane are suggested. It is found that changing the liquid medium from hexane to distilled water not only changes the chemical composition of the target, but also reduces the mass ejected from the target by roughly 25%. Further, this change leads to a “smoother” ablation process and reduces the roughness of the target. Finally, mixed results were obtained when changing the liquid medium. Nanoparticle properties such as yield and absorption were found to be greatly affected, while mechanical properties, such as hardness, are not dependent on the liquid medium.