Pulsed laser intensity dependence of crater formation and light reflection in the UDMA-TEGDMA copolymer nanocomposite, doped with resonant plasmonic gold nanorods

TL;DR

This study investigates how resonant plasmonic gold nanorods embedded in a polymer affect crater formation and light reflection under high-intensity femtosecond laser pulses, revealing significant energy enhancement effects.

Contribution

It demonstrates the threshold-dependent influence of gold nanorods on laser-induced crater formation and light reflection, highlighting the role of plasmonic resonance in laser-matter interactions.

Findings

Crater volume increases 7-fold with 1.7-fold laser intensity rise.

Enhanced laser light absorption exceeds 80% at plasma mirror threshold.

Gold nanorods significantly alter laser-matter interaction dynamics.

Abstract

Plasmonic nanoparticles embedded into a solid matrix could play crucial role in laser-matter interactions. In this study, excess energy creation was observed during the single-shot irradiation of a polymer matrix containing plasmonic gold nanorods, resonant to the laser wavelength, with a high intensity femtosecond laser pulse. This effect was manifested in a 7-fold rise in the crater volume for a 1.7-fold increase of the laser intensity, and was absent in the pure polymer without the gold doping. It occurred at laser intensities > 1.5 x 1017 W/cm2, being the vanishing threshold of plasma mirror formation, resulting in a more than 80% increase of the amount of laser light entering the target. This threshold was found to be critical for the plasmonic effect of gold nanoantennas tuned to the wavelength of the laser on the crater formation.