Abstract
The influence of material characteristics—i.e., type or surface texture—to wetting properties is nowadays increased by the implementation of ultrafast lasers for nanostructuring. In this account, we exposed multilayer thin metal film samples of different materials to a femtosecond laser beam at a 1030 nm wavelength. The interaction generated high-quality laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) of spatial periods between 740 and 790 nm and with maximal average corrugation height below 100 nm. The contact angle (CA) values of the water droplets on the surface were estimated and the values between unmodified and modified samples were compared. Even though the laser interaction changed both the surface morphology and the chemical composition, the wetting properties were predominantly influenced by the small change in morphology causing the increase in the contact angle of ~80%, which could not be explained classically. The influence of both surface corrugation and chemical composition to the wetting properties has been thoroughly investigated, discussed and explained. The presented results clearly confirm that femtosecond patterning can be used to mold wetting properties.
Highlights
Generating periodical sub-wavelength structures on material surfaces by interaction with pulsed laser beams has been known for some time [1,2,3,4]
The influence of the different chemical composition is is represented by different materials of the topmost layers, while the influence of the morphology represented by different materials of the topmost layers, while the influence of the morphology is is caused by the interaction with the laser
We have investigated the wetting of laser modified multilayer thin films of different metal materials by using contact angle measurements
Summary
Generating periodical sub-wavelength structures on material surfaces by interaction with pulsed laser beams has been known for some time [1,2,3,4]. The structures in the form of parallel ripples—laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS)—have been reported on various materials, including dielectric materials, metals, semiconductors, and graphene [5,6,7]. Being in the nanometer scale, and with the occurrence due to the laser-surface interaction, they are a frequent subject of investigation in nano-optics (nanophotonics). If compared to single layer metal films, more regular LIPSS are generated with low-fluence femtosecond (fs) laser beam interaction with multilayer thin metal films, since the existence of the metal sublayer influences the quality and stability of LIPSS [11]. The control of wetting properties and achieving super-hydrophobic surfaces by laser interaction have been reported for various materials: stainless
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