Synthesis of Cu2O, CuCl, and Cu2OCl2 nanoparticles by ultrafast laser ablation of copper in liquid media

Copper complex nanoparticles were fabricated from bulk copper using picosecond laser ablation in water and chloroform. We found that composition of the nanoparticles was CuCl and Cu2OCl2 in chloroform at three different input fluences; Cu2O in water which was confirmed from the data of EDAX, UV-Visible absorption spectra, and selected area electron diffraction pattern. We have also performed nonlinear optical studies of colloidal nanoparticles using Z-scan technique at 800 nm and ∼2 ps laser pulses. Cu2O NPs exhibited two-photon absorption at lower peak intensities while three-photon absorption was observed at higher peak intensities. Other samples exhibited two-photon absorption at all peak intensities.