Micro-bubble generated by laser irradiation on an individual carbon nanocoil

We have investigated the micro-bubbles generated by laser induction on an individual carbon nanocoil (CNC) immerged in deionized water. The photon energy of the incident focused laser beam is absorbed by CNC and converted to thermal energy, which efficiently vaporizes the surrounding water, and subsequently a micro-bubble is generated at the laser location. The dynamics behavior of bubble generation, including its nucleation, expansion and steady-state, has been studied experimentally and theoretically. We have derived equations to analyze the expansion process of a bubble based on classical heat and mass transfer theories. The conclusion is in good agreement with the experiment. CNC, which acts as a realistic micro-bubble generator, can be operated easily and flexibly.