Photo-conversion and evolution of one-dimensional Cu nanoparticles under femtosecond laser irradiation

Metal nanowires with electric conductive properties can be useful for optical polarization control medium and electro-conductive nanomaterial. We report on metallic Cu nanowires with a length of 1.0 μm and a diameter of 85 nm which were successfully photo-converted from commercial scale-like Cu particles, dispersed in a methanol solution, by using femtosecond laser irradiation. The growth mechanism of Cu nanowires under laser irradiation was suggested to be a nucleation growth process.