Nanosecond laser ablation of gold nanoparticle films

Ablation of self-assembled monolayer protected gold nanoparticle films on polyimide was explored using a nanosecond laser. When the nanoparticle film was ablated and subsequently thermally sintered to a continuous film, the elevated rim structure by the expulsion of molten pool could be avoided and the ablation threshold fluence was reduced to a value at least ten times lower than the reported threshold for the gold film. This could be explained by the unusual properties of nanoparticle film such as low melting temperature, weak bonding between nanoparticles, efficient laser energy deposition, and reduced heat loss. Finally, submicron lines were demonstrated.