Nanoparticles (NPs) applications in energy, medicine, additive manufacturing, or catalysis require the development of synthesis techniques offering solvent and material versatility, morphology, size control, and high purity, together with industrial-scale productivities. Pulsed laser ablation in liquids (PLAL) comes close to meet these requirements; however, NP size control and further productivity increase remain a challenge. The spatial and temporal modification of the laser beam appear as an ideal approach to modify the cavitation bubble dynamics and influence NP size distribution, and to increase productivity by reducing cavitation bubble pulse shielding. Here, a (9 ± 1) wt% reduction of the characteristic NP bimodality is shown by a double pulse configuration with inter-pulse delay of 600 ps. Furthermore, synchronous double pulse PLAL with controlled inter-pulse distance is shown to modify bubble merging dynamics, resulting approximately in a factor 3 NP size increase. Finally, multi-beam PLAL is proposed as an alternative to increase inter-pulse distance and reduce cavitation bubble pulse shielding, showing a factor 4 maximum productivity increase compared to standard PLAL.
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