Nanoparticle formation by laser-assisted photolysis of ferrocene.

Laser-assisted formation of iron-containing nanoparticles has been performed by photolytic dissociation of ferrocene vapour by a pulsed ArF excimer laser at 193 nm. The process was carried out at atmospheric pressure, either in an inert atmosphere of argon or in a reactive gas mixture of argon and oxygen. Differential mobility analysers, DMA's, were used for the determination of the particle sizes. By changing laser parameters such as beam size, pulse energy and repetition rate, particle sizes ranging from 3 to 100 nm, were generated. Morphology and size of the nanoparticles were studied via transmission electron microscopy, TEM, and structural information was obtained from electron diffraction. Chemical composition was determined through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, XPS, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, EDX. (C) 1999 Acta Metallurgica Inc.