Laser cooling in flame synthesis of nanoparticles

摘要

Laser cooling and trapping of atoms and molecules has been prevailing for two decades in numerous research fields and even in educational demonstrations. We propose here a novel application of laser cooling in the newly developed nanoparticle flame synthesis processes. With a robust laser cooling system, we could cool down specific species in a flame environment with high temperature and a variety of pressures. By combing with spontaneous Raman scattering and fluorescence, we could better diagnose and control the synthesis process in situ. The results were analyzed in the context of thermodynamics and reaction fluid to improve our knowledge on the mechanism of the gas-phase synthesis of nanoparticles.