Bubble Formation on the Surface of Laser-Irradiated Nano-Sized Particles

It is well known that a phase transition from liquid to vapor occurs in the thermal boundary layer adjacent to a nanoparticle that has a high temperature upon irradiation with a high-power laser. In this study, the mechanism by which the evaporated layer adjacent to a laser-irradiated nanoparticle can grow as a bubble was investigated. The pressure of the evaporated liquid volume due to heat diffusion from the irradiated nanoparticle was estimated using a bubble nucleation model based on molecular interactions. The bubble wall motion was obtained using the Keller-Miksis equation. The density and temperature inside the bubble were obtained by solving the continuity and energy equations for the vapor inside the bubble. The evaporation of water molecules or condensation of water vapor at the vapor-liquid interface and the homogeneous nucleation of vapor were also considered. The calculated bubble radius -time curve for the bubble formed on the surface of a gold particle with a diameter of 9 nm is close to the experimental result. Our study reveals that an appropriate size of the evaporated liquid volume and a large expansion velocity are important parameters for the formation of a transient nano-sized bubble. The calculation result suggests that homogeneous condensation of vapor rather than condensation at the interface occurs.