UV-laser-induced modifications through a single slit on quasi-percolated silver nanostructured films

In this work, we report the synthesis of quasi-percolated Ag thin films by pulsed laser deposition. These Ag nanostructures are the starting material for obtaining spatially ordered silver nanoparticles by ultraviolet laser irradiation. The laser transformations are investigated by transmission electron microscopy. We have previously demonstrated that the arrangement of these silver nanoparticle assemblies can be controlled by irradiating the samples through suitable masks, such as razor edge or a phase grating among others, taking advantage of their respective diffractive properties. In this work, the effect of the irradiation through a single slit is discussed. A simple optical model based on Fresnel diffraction is presented in order to explain the obtained results.