Silver nanoribbons achieved by picosecond ablation using cylindrical focusing and SERS-based trace detection of TNT.

We report the fabrication of silver nanoribbons by picosecond laser ablation of bulk silver (Ag) targets submerged in double distilled water (DDW) using a cylindrical focusing geometry. The laser ablation was performed by ∼2 picosecond laser pulses and the corresponding light sheet engendered by a cylindrical lens of focal length ∼4.5 cm.