Minireview: Laser-Induced Formation of Microbubbles - Biomedical Implications

Recent work is summarized that shows how microbubbles may have potential utility in biomedical situations as (i) highly localized generators of intense white light in an aqueous environment, (ii) disruptors of matter in aqueous solution, (iii) essential precursors in laser-writing structures on substrates on which biological cells can be spatially aligned, and (iv) mediators in the fabrication of hierarchical nanostructures that enhance signals in biological Raman spectroscopy. Indeed, microbubbles generated upon laser irradiation of surfaces have many more ramifications than originally thought, with implications in the laser modification of surfaces producing either hydrophilicity or hydrophobicity. Many more possibilities remain to be explored and exploited.