Resonant Laser Printing of Optical Metasurfaces

Abstract

One of the challenges for metasurface research is upscaling. The conventional methods for fabrication of metasurfaces, such as electron-beam or focused ion beam lithography, are not scalable. The use of ultraviolet steppers or nanoimprinting still requires large-size masks or stamps, which are costly and challenging in further handling. This work demonstrates a cost-effective and lithography-free method for printing optical metasurfaces. It is based on resonant absorption of laser light in an optical cavity formed by a multilayer structure of ultrathin metal and dielectric coatings. A nearly perfect light absorption is obtained via interferometric control of absorption and operating around a critical coupling condition. Controlled by the laser power, the surface undergoes a structural transition from random, semiperiodic, and periodic to amorphous patterns with nanoscale precision. The reliability, upscaling, and subwavelength resolution of this approach are demonstrated by realizing metasurfaces for structural colors, optical holograms, and diffractive optical elements.

Recent Advances and Prospects of Optical Metasurfaces

“…Zhu et al developed a resonant laser printing technology that uses the strong interaction of a pulsed laser and optical cavity to induce selforganized surface structures (Figure 7c). 46 With this method, centimeter-scale structural color printing with feature size below 100 nm was realized. Another novel laser printing technique is two-photon polymerization lithography (TPL).…”

“…The excellent properties of metasurfaces also facilitate the development of advanced fabrication technologies, such as nanoimprint lithography (NIL) 45 and resonant laser printing. 46 Here, we summarize recent advances in metasurfaces combined with related technologies. We begin by introducing the basic wavefront-shaping function of the metasurface, including directional deflection, optical imaging, and structured light.…”

Plasmonic Color Printing via Bottom-Up Laser-Induced Photomodification Process

“…Recently, plasmonic nanoparticle (NP) structures from laser-induced dewetting or photomodification have been extensively explored for plasmonic coloration because of their simple patterning systems, low processing costs, and large-scale patterning capabilities. Several approaches have been reported for controlling the interaction between laser and materials from processing parameter control, , laser-induced assembly, resonant laser printing, and laser printed image multiplexing . In addition, various modulations of metal structures were reported including film thickness, , bulk metal, solution-based nanomaterials, additional coating, and gap plasmon structure .…”

High-speed laser writing of structural colors for full-color inkless printing

“…In addition, lasers are capable of large-scale fabrication on highly rough surfaces, which are challenging for conventional techniques such as electron beam lithography and nanoimprinting 42 . Laser coloring generally contains three approaches that are based on different mechanisms: plasmonic colors from randomly self-organized metallic nanoparticles 42 , diffractive colors from laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS, i.e., nanogratings) [43][44][45] , and interfering colors from thin films including transparent oxide layer 46 and FP-cavities 47,48 .…”

“…Nevertheless, this technique is also facing the problem of a narrow gamut (~25% sRGB). Further, both plasmonic colors and FPcavities rely on noble metals such as Au, Ag and Cu, exhibiting low wear resistance and thus poor abrasion stability 27,41,47 .…”