. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2010 Aug 1.

Published in final edited form as: Nanomedicine (Lond). 2009 Oct;4(7):813–845. doi: 10.2217/nnm.09.59

Table 3.

Comparison of the process of generation of the photothermal bubbles around plasmonic nanoparticles and in homogeneously absorbing media.

Experimental parameters	Laser pulse duration	Environmental bulk heating	Size of the absorber
Plasmonic NP in transparent suspension	++	−	PTB threshold fluence decreases
Homogenous and micrometer-size optical absorbers	+	+	PTB threshold fluence increases

+: Indicates influence of specific experimental parameter.

NP: Nanoparticle; PTB: Photothermal bubble.