Nonequilibrium Laser-Based Synthesis of Nanoparticle Ensembles

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have grabbed tremendous interest in the recent years because of their exotic electrical and optical properties, which make them potential candidates for next-generation electronics and optoelectronics. Further confining of these 2D materials laterally forms zero-dimensional (0D) nanoparticles that imitate the interesting characteristics of quantum dots (QDs). In this thesis, I am reporting a laser-based method to produce nanoparticle ensembles derived from 2D materials in a solution-free, fast, and effective fashion. This method has the potential of forming digital heterostructures of nanoparticles, which are then post-heated to crystallize. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and optical microscopy have been used to investigate the morphology and structural compositions of the obtained depositions. In addition, the photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) system were used to investigate the electronic and optical properties of obtained samples as a function of the growth parameters.