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Laser fabricated nanofoam from polymeric substrates

Laser fabricated nanofoam from polymeric substrates
Laser fabricated nanofoam from polymeric substrates
Nanofoams are generally defined as a class of nanostructured porous materials with <100nm features. They are of interest, as they have many potentially desirable applications in photonics, electronics, chemistry and medicine. Using a femtosecond pulsed laser source to manufacture nanofoam offers the potential to fabricate high porosity nanofoam on the sample surface [1].The fabrication mechanism is understood to be a two-step process, where 1) ionisation from laser ablation of the sample leaves surface debris and 2) subsequent laser pulses reheat and expel the debris leaving a network of solidified vapour trails (nanowires) as they cool. Whilst the substrate is, by necessity, damaged in this process as some of the target material must be sacrificed in order to produce the nanofoam, the amount of damage is small compared to the fabricated volume of nanofoam. Typically less than a 1 micron depth of the target material surface is damaged, whilst the height of the fabricated nanofoam can be greater than 100m, hence with associated density in the range 0.1% to 1% compared to the original material.Currently, we are generally able to fabricate volumes approximately 1mm by 1mm with 100µm depth, per ~15 minute period. The specific volume fabricated depends on the target material, as some materials with higher ablation thresholds require a tighter focus and hence slower fabrication speeds. We have already demonstrated fabrication of glass nanofoam [1], and here, we extend our approach to the fabrication of nanofoam from polymers.We will present our latest results showing fabrication of polymer nanocomposites, along with a recently developed 2D model that has furthered our understanding of the fabrication process over macro (>1µm) size scales.[1] J.A.Grant-Jacob, B.Mills, R.W.Eason, “Parametric study of the rapid fabrication of glass nanofoam via femtosecond laser irradiation”, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 2014 Vol.47(5)pp.055105
Mills, Benjamin
05f1886e-96ef-420f-b856-4115f4ab36d0
Grant-Jacob, James
c5d144d8-3c43-4195-8e80-edd96bfda91b
Heath, Daniel
d53c269d-90d2-41e6-aa63-a03f8f014d21
Eason, Robert
e38684c3-d18c-41b9-a4aa-def67283b020
Mills, Benjamin
05f1886e-96ef-420f-b856-4115f4ab36d0
Grant-Jacob, James
c5d144d8-3c43-4195-8e80-edd96bfda91b
Heath, Daniel
d53c269d-90d2-41e6-aa63-a03f8f014d21
Eason, Robert
e38684c3-d18c-41b9-a4aa-def67283b020

Mills, Benjamin, Grant-Jacob, James, Heath, Daniel and Eason, Robert (2017) Laser fabricated nanofoam from polymeric substrates. GRAPOL, London, London, United Kingdom. 12 Apr 2017. 1 pp .

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Poster)

Abstract

Nanofoams are generally defined as a class of nanostructured porous materials with <100nm features. They are of interest, as they have many potentially desirable applications in photonics, electronics, chemistry and medicine. Using a femtosecond pulsed laser source to manufacture nanofoam offers the potential to fabricate high porosity nanofoam on the sample surface [1].The fabrication mechanism is understood to be a two-step process, where 1) ionisation from laser ablation of the sample leaves surface debris and 2) subsequent laser pulses reheat and expel the debris leaving a network of solidified vapour trails (nanowires) as they cool. Whilst the substrate is, by necessity, damaged in this process as some of the target material must be sacrificed in order to produce the nanofoam, the amount of damage is small compared to the fabricated volume of nanofoam. Typically less than a 1 micron depth of the target material surface is damaged, whilst the height of the fabricated nanofoam can be greater than 100m, hence with associated density in the range 0.1% to 1% compared to the original material.Currently, we are generally able to fabricate volumes approximately 1mm by 1mm with 100µm depth, per ~15 minute period. The specific volume fabricated depends on the target material, as some materials with higher ablation thresholds require a tighter focus and hence slower fabrication speeds. We have already demonstrated fabrication of glass nanofoam [1], and here, we extend our approach to the fabrication of nanofoam from polymers.We will present our latest results showing fabrication of polymer nanocomposites, along with a recently developed 2D model that has furthered our understanding of the fabrication process over macro (>1µm) size scales.[1] J.A.Grant-Jacob, B.Mills, R.W.Eason, “Parametric study of the rapid fabrication of glass nanofoam via femtosecond laser irradiation”, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 2014 Vol.47(5)pp.055105

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More information

Published date: 12 April 2017
Venue - Dates: GRAPOL, London, London, United Kingdom, 2017-04-12 - 2017-04-12
Organisations: Optoelectronics Research Centre

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 410710
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/410710
PURE UUID: 5e3bdca5-5f29-4e93-b45e-21515f1348af
ORCID for Benjamin Mills: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1784-1012
ORCID for James Grant-Jacob: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4270-4247
ORCID for Robert Eason: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9704-2204

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 09 Jun 2017 09:24
Last modified: 12 Dec 2021 03:47

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Contributors

Author: Benjamin Mills ORCID iD
Author: James Grant-Jacob ORCID iD
Author: Daniel Heath
Author: Robert Eason ORCID iD

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