PREPARATION OF COBALT NANOSTRUCTURES USING PULSED Nd: YAG LASER

This study presents the preparation and characterization of cobalt nanoscale particles, focusing on several of their physical properties. Cobalt nanostructures were synthesized using the Pulsed Laser Ablation in Liquid (PLAL) method, employing a Q-switched Nd: laser with a fundamental wavelength of 1064 nm, a pulse duration of 10 ns, and a repetition rate of 1 Hz. Laser ablation energies of 200 and 400 mJ, along with varying pulse counts of 100, 200, and 300 per energy setting, were used for synthesis. The measured physical properties include optical absorbance, absorption coefficient, energy gap, refractive index, and extinction coefficient. Three energy gap values, 1.53, 2.36, and 3.53 eV, were observed, showing a slight increase with the total number of pulses, with minimal influence from the pulse energy. Other optical parameters, including refractive index, absorption coefficient, extinction coefficient, and optical conductivity, exhibited an increasing trend with a higher total number of pulses.