Nanodiamond synthesis by pulsed laser ablation in liquids

Pulsed laser ablation in liquids (PLAL) has become an attractive method for the synthesis of nanodiamond. This work deals with the growth kinetics study of structures of nano-diamonds embedded in sp² carbon synthetized by this method. The plasma created by the laser pulse has been monitored by time resolved spectroscopy to analyze the evolution of the plume and therefore the transient species created. Typical C₂ vibrational bands appear, as well as a continuous spectrum due to various phenomena. The study of both the background and the vibrational features gives information on the reaction kinetics and on the plasma density. The presence of nanodiamonds has been confirmed by Raman spectroscopy as well as TEM analysis.