Ink‐Assisted Laser‐Induced Heterogeneous Permanent/Erasable Nanostructures on Metals

Abstract

AbstractStructural color fabrication attracting significant interest for science and art is usually restricted by costly and time‐consuming structuring processes or inerasable characteristics of structures. Herein, by developing a universal, low‐cost technical solution—the nanosecond laser irradiation of ink (Solvent Black 7) layers coated on metal—laser‐induced heterogeneous permanent/erasable nanostructures (LIHPEN) are produced successfully on multiple metals, especially noble metals, without ablation damage to intrinsic surfaces. LIHPEN consist of uniform laser‐induced periodic surface structures produced by surface plasmon polariton excitation of metals and can be extended into 2D hybrid micro/nanostructures by introducing the direct laser interference patterning technique. LIHPEN technology operated under a large processing parameter window can realize space‐selective erasability of prepared structures by controlling processing parameters, which determine the ink‐layer carbonization degree and thus the permanent or erasable characteristic. Because ink layers can be coated manually, in addition to realizing digital scanning patterns, LIHPEN technology can be integrated with traditional artistic techniques to solidify and color artworks without risk of information loss and leakage in digital copying. LIHPEN with good durability can exhibit vivid structural colors on metals, demonstrating its great potential in fields of artwork iridescent coloring, encryption, and anti‐counterfeiting, particularly those requiring customization, personalization, and rewritability.