The emission of atoms and nanoparticles during femtosecond laser ablation of gold

The properties of laser ablated plumes produced in high vacuum by 100 fs Ti:sapphire pulses from a gold solid target were studied. Optical emission spectroscopy showed that the plume was formed by both atomic and non-atomic species in the whole investigated laser intensity range (1012–1013 W/cm2), while atomic force microscopy analysis of deposits carried out at room temperature revealed the nanometric size of the non-atomic component, with a mean particle radius of tens of nanometers.