Formation dynamics of silicon nanoparticles after laser ablation studied using plasma emission caused by second-laser decomposition

We have investigated the dynamic formation of silicon nanoparticles after pulsed-laser ablation of a silicon target into argon gas, in order to fabricate the nanoparticles that exhibit visible photoluminescence with higher efficiency. The nanoparticles growing in argon gas were detected by measuring plasma emission resulting from decomposition of the nanoparticles by a second pulsed-laser beam. It was directly observed that the nanoparticles grow on the time scale of 1 ms.