The formation of micro/nanoparticles in laser-enhanced electroplating with continuous-wave and pulsed Nd-YAG laser interactions

The copper particles generated by the laser-enhanced electroplating method have been investigated in this study, and the results have been examined at various process conditions. The electrolyte jet of copper sulfate was impinged on a stainless steel electrode and irradiated with a Nd-YAG laser at continuous-wave (CW) and Q-switched output modes, respectively, to generate the particle size distribution from micro- to nano-scale.According to the electrochemical dynamics theory, the mechanism of the proposed technique for the particles formation is mainly due to the thermal effects from the laser interaction in electroplating. In the experiments, the laser energy absorbed by the electrolyte jet and the temperature rise of the electrode during the laser radiation has been measured. In the numerical simulation, the temperature fields of the impinging jet of the laser nozzle were calculated. It shows that the growth of the particle is significantly corresponding to the laser power and pulse mode of the laser interaction.

► With both CW and Q-switched Nd-YAG laser output modes.
► Copper particles can be produced from micro- to nano-scales by the proposed laser-enhanced electroplating method.
► Nanoparticles can be generated due to the heating and pulsing effects with a short pulse laser interaction time.
► Temperature’s rise of impinging jet at laser interaction zone significantly affects the distributions of particle size.