Chameleon-inspired design of dynamic patterns based on femtosecond laser-induced forward transfer

Abstract

Chameleon can display variable body color/patterns under environmental stimulation via bioelectricity-controlled three layers of pigment cells and photonic crystals in the chameleon's skin. Inspired by color variation of chameleon, numerous “smart skins” have been achieved successfully, which possess great potential for optical information record and security. However, it remains challenging to produce full color dynamic fluorescent patterns with higher precision and flexibility to improve information capacity and anti-counterfeiting property. In this work, the micro-sized full color dynamic fluorescent patterns were successfully achieved by multiple transferring different colored quantum dots (QDs) from the carrier substrates to the receiving substrate via femtosecond laser-induced forward transfer (FsLIFT) technology using the chameleon skin as a prototype. The ability to dynamically display by facilely controlling the excitations is demonstrated, ensuring the information transformation function as chameleon skin. The resulting dynamic fluorescent patterns provide dual biomimetic of chameleon skin morphology and function. To illustrate the promising practical applications, flexible information encryption and information decryption relying on portable devices based on the fabricated dynamic fluorescent patterns have been achieved. It is anticipated that this bioinspired strategy is universal and promising for fabricating on-demand fluorescent dynamic patterns.