Choi Shinhyuk, Zhao Zhi, Zuo Jiawei, Faruque Hossain Mansur Resalat, Yao Yu, Wang Chao
School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA.
Biodesign Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA.
Light Sci Appl. 2022 Apr 6;11(1):84. doi: 10.1038/s41377-022-00776-x.
Structural color printings have broad applications due to their advantages of long-term sustainability, eco-friendly manufacturing, and ultra-high resolution. However, most of them require costly and time-consuming fabrication processes from nanolithography to vacuum deposition and etching. Here, we demonstrate a new color printing technology based on polymer-assisted photochemical metal deposition (PPD), a room temperature, ambient, and additive manufacturing process without requiring heating, vacuum deposition or etching. The PPD-printed silver films comprise densely aggregated silver nanoparticles filled with a small amount (estimated <20% volume) of polymers, producing a smooth surface (roughness 2.5 nm) even better than vacuum-deposited silver films (roughness 2.8 nm) at 4 nm thickness. Further, the printed composite films have a much larger effective refractive index n (1.90) and a smaller extinction coefficient k (0.92) than PVD ones in the visible wavelength range (400 to 800 nm), therefore modulating the surface reflection and the phase accumulation. The capability of PPD in printing both ultra-thin (5 nm) composite films and highly reflective thicker film greatly benefit the design and construction of multilayered Fabry-Perot (FP) cavity structures to exhibit vivid and saturated colors. We demonstrated programmed printing of complex pictures of different color schemes at a high spatial resolution of ~6.5 μm by three-dimensionally modulating the top composite film geometries and dielectric spacer thicknesses (75 to 200 nm). Finally, PPD-based color picture printing is demonstrated on a wide range of substrates, including glass, PDMS, and plastic, proving its broad potential in future applications from security labeling to color displays.
结构色印刷因其长期可持续性、环保制造和超高分辨率等优点而具有广泛的应用。然而，它们中的大多数需要从纳米光刻到真空沉积和蚀刻等昂贵且耗时的制造工艺。在此，我们展示了一种基于聚合物辅助光化学金属沉积（PPD）的新型彩色印刷技术，这是一种室温、常压下的增材制造工艺，无需加热、真空沉积或蚀刻。PPD印刷的银膜由密集聚集的银纳米颗粒组成，其中填充有少量（估计体积<20%）的聚合物，在约4nm厚度时产生的光滑表面（粗糙度2.5nm）甚至优于真空沉积的银膜（粗糙度2.8nm）。此外，在可见波长范围（400至800nm）内，印刷复合膜比物理气相沉积（PVD）膜具有更大的有效折射率n（约1.90）和更小的消光系数k（约0.92），因此能够调节表面反射和相位积累。PPD能够印刷超薄（约5nm）复合膜和高反射性较厚膜，这极大地有利于多层法布里 - 珀罗（FP）腔结构的设计和构建，以呈现生动和饱和的颜色。我们通过三维调制顶部复合膜几何形状和介电间隔层厚度（75至200nm），以约6.5μm的高空间分辨率展示了不同配色方案复杂图案的编程印刷。最后，基于PPD的彩色图片印刷在包括玻璃、聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）和塑料在内的多种基板上得到了展示，证明了其在从安全标签到彩色显示器等未来应用中的广阔潜力。
