Morphology and Structure of Coatings Obtained by Laser Ablation of Rare-Earth Metals

The optical properties, morphology, and structure of coatings from nanoparticles of rare-earth metals La, Nd, Pr, and Y, obtained by laser ablation with an Nd 3+:YAG laser in various media (air, distilled water), were investigated. It was established that the electronic absorption spectra of colloidal solutions of the studied nanoparticles have maxima in the UV and visible regions. The optical density of the solutions varied from 0.2 to 1.6 with an absorbing layer thickness of 10 mm and under identical excitation conditions at a wavelength of 1064 nm. The sizes of the nanoparticles of the rare-earth metals and the micromorphology of the deposited coatings in atmospheric and aqueous media were investigated by atomic-force microscopy. It was shown that the deposited nanostructures of the investigated metals have various morphologies and differ in the form and size of the nanoparticles depending on the deposition medium.