Laser-induced nanobubbles generation on gold nanoparticles: thermal and light scattering effects

Abstract

The generation of nanobubbles by laser irradiation of nanoparticles is of great interest in various applications in biophotonics. In a previous work we presented a model that adequately describes the phenomenon at low concentration of nanoparticles (<0.1 nM) and low repetition rate laser pulses (<0.5 Hz). The model is based on the classical nucleation theory and the equations of dynamic evolution for condensation and evaporation. In this paper we discuss the differences between the acoustic signal generated by the nanobubble as predicted by the model and the experimental results for cases when the repetition rate of the pulses and the concentration of nanoparticles are increased. These are attributed to the heating of the fluid surrounding the nanoparticles and to the scattering of the radiation produced by nanobubbles. These results are relevant to estimate the temperature of the nanoparticle and the size of the nanobubble.