This section presents a detailed study of the impact of plasmonic heating on the morphological change in TiO2 and Au NPs on the sample with higher Au particle density (600/μm 2 ), as observed from SEM, TEM, and EDS images. At 8 mW power, fractures and cracks began to form, as seen from a lower magnification SEM image (Figure the CW-laser-induced surface evaporation of the Au NPs in air supported on glass. The evaporation of the bulk gold occurs at ~2830°C. Melting of TiO2 NPs was observed as the laser power increased. At 16 mW power, aggregations and small pools of melted TiO2 were seen (Figure The size of the melted pools was close to the laser beam size (0.7 μm), so the on-resonance wavelength Gaussian laser beam melted the TiO2 and formed sintered Au NPs at the center of the melted TiO2 pools. The melt pool temperature was at least as high as the melting temperature of the TiO2 NPs, which is known to be around 1830°C. Another phenomenon is the balling effect during laser melting. A molten ball of TiO2 (Figure ) was observed after 30 mW laser power irradiation. When the adhesion between the TiO2 and the silicon substrate weakens, the melted TiO2 forms a ball instead of adhering to the surface to minimize the surface energy. This is known as the balling effect, commonly observed in the laser powder-bed fusion additive manufacturing. At different laser powers, sintered Au NPs were also seen to be embedded in the TiO2 matrix (Figure ). The ball-shaped TiO2, melted pools of TiO2, and evaporation of Au indicate that the temperature due to plasmonic heating reached at least as high as 1830°C.