Ultrafast speckle-free time-resolved photography for the investigation of pulsed laser ablation in liquids

Pulsed laser ablation in liquids (LAL) is a growing field for the generation of metallic nanoparticles, but a comprehensive picture of the fundamental mechanisms is still missing. The process is always associated with rapid material ejection, shock waves and cavitation. Time-resolved photography with speckle-free illumination at exposure times below 200 ps can “freeze” these events and provide diffraction-limited resolution. We present a novel light source fulfilling these demands based on a SBS compressed Q-switched laser pulse pumping a dye cell and illustrate it’s utility through photography of LAL events on a gold target.