Controlling laser induced surface morphology is essential for developing specialized functional surfaces. This work presents novel, multi-scale periodic patterns with two-dimensional symmetry generated on stainless steel, polyimide and sapphire. The microstructures were realized by combining Direct Laser Interference Patterning with the generation of Laser Induced Periodic Surface Structures in a one-step process. An industrial, fiber femtosecond laser source emitting at 1030 nm with a pulse duration of 500 fs was utilized for the experiments. In the case of stainless steel, it was possible to create line-like or pillar-like surface patterns by rotating the polarization orientation with respect to the interference pattern. In the case of polyimide and sapphire, the absorption of the laser radiation was promoted by a multiphoton mechanism. In polyimide, grooves and pillars of several microns in depth were produced over an area much larger than the spot size. Finally, for sapphire, the simultaneous generation of interference-like pattern and laser induced periodic surface structures was realized. The results reported here provide valuable data on the feasibility to combine two state-of-the-art techniques with an industrial apparatus, to control the induced surface morphology.

Superhydrophobic natural surfaces usually have multiple levels of structure hierarchy, particularly microstructures covered with nano-roughness. The multi-scale nature of such a surface reduces the wetting of water and oils, and supports self-cleaning properties. In this work, in order to broaden our understanding of the wetting properties of technical surfaces, biomimetic surface patterns were fabricated on stainless steel with single and multi-scale periodic structures using direct laser interference patterning (DLIP). Micropillars with a spatial period of 5.5 µm and a structural depth of 4.2 µm were fabricated and covered by a sub-micro roughness by using ultrashort laser pulses, thus obtaining a hierarchical geometry. In order to distinguish the influence of the different features on the wettability behavior, a nanosecond laser source was used to melt the nano-roughness, and thus to obtain single-scale patterns. Then, a systematic comparison between the single- and multi-scale structures was performed. Although, the treated surfaces showed hydrophilic behavior directly after the laser treatment, over time they reached a steady-state hydrophobic condition. However, the multi-scale structured metal showed a contact angle 31° higher than the single-scale geometry when the steady-state conditions were reached. Furthermore, the impact of the surface chemistry was investigated by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses. Finally, a hydrophobizing agent was applied to the laser treated samples in order to further enhance the water contact angles and to determine the pure contribution of the surface topography. In the latter case, the multi-scale periodic microstructures reached static contact angles of 152° ± 2° and a contact angle hysteresis of only 4° ± 2°, while the single-scale structures did not show superhydrophobic behavior. These results definitely suggest that multi-scale DLIP structures in conjunction with a surface chemistry modification can promote a superhydrophobic regime.

This review investigates the capabilities of laser-based interferometric methods for producing structures with multiple-scaled surface features imitating natural examples. Firstly, laser interference lithography is used to produce hierarchical patterns with length-scales in the micrometer and sub-micrometer range. Different strategies are discussed to produce a wide variety of periodic arrays, depending on the number of resist lasers used as well as the way in which the exposure steps are organized. After that, periodic patterns are fabricated on polymers using ns laser pulses from an UV-laser system. Additionally in this case, multiple-scale patterns are produced by using different strategies. A similar approach is described to treat metallic surfaces of steel X6Cr17 and a titanium alloy Ti6Al4V. The geometry of the produced microstructures was characterized using scanning electron microscopy and confocal microscopy. Measurement of water contact angle is performed for both polymer and metallic surfaces.

Ice-building up on the leading edge of wings and other surfaces exposed to icing atmospheric conditions can negatively influence the aerodynamic performances of aircrafts. In the past, research activities focused on understanding icing phenomena and finding effective countermeasures. Efforts have been dedicated to creating coatings capable of reducing the adhesion strength of ice to a surface. Nevertheless, coatings still lack functional stability, and their application can be harmful to health and the environment. Pulsed laser surface treatments have been proven as a viable technology to induce icephobicity on metallic surfaces. However, a study aimed to find the most effective microstructures for reducing ice adhesion still needs to be carried out. This study investigates the variation of the ice adhesion strength of micro-textured aluminum surfaces treated using laser-based methods. The icephobic performance is tested in an icing wind tunnel, simulating realistic icing conditions. Finally, it is shown that optimum surface textures lead to a reduction of the ice adhesion strength from originally 57 kPa down to 6 kPa, corresponding to a relative reduction of ~90%. Consequently, these new insights will be of great importance in the development of functionalized surfaces, permitting an innovative approach to prevent the icing of aluminum components.

Functional laser surface texturing (LST) arose in recent years as a very powerful tool for tailoring the surface properties of parts and components to their later application. As a result, self-cleaning surfaces with an improved wettability, efficient engine components with optimized tribological properties, and functional implants with increased biocompatibility can be achieved today. However, with increasing capabilities in functional LST, the prediction of resulting surface properties becomes more and more important in order to reduce the development time of those functionalities. Consequently, advanced approaches for the prediction of the properties of laser-processed surfaces—the so-called predictive modelling—are required. This work introduces the concept of predictive modelling with respect to LST by means of direct laser writing (DLW). Fundamental concepts for the prediction of surface properties are presented employing machine learning approaches, theoretical concepts, and statistical methods. The modelling takes into consideration the used laser parameters, the analysis of topographical, and other process-relevant information in order to predict the resulting surface roughness. For this purpose, two different algorithms, namely artificial neural network and random forest, were trained with experimental data for stainless steel and Stavax surfaces. Statistical results indicate that both models can predict the desired surface topography with high accuracy, despite the use of a small dataset for the training process. The approaches can be used to further optimize the laser process regarding the process efficiency, overall throughput, and other process outcomes.

Hierarchical micro/-nanostructures were produced on polycarbonate polymer surfaces by employing a two-step UV-laser processing strategy based on the combination of Direct Laser Interference Patterning (DLIP) of gratings and pillars on the microscale (3 ns, 266 nm, 2 kHz) and subsequently superimposing Laser-induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSS; 7–10 ps, 350 nm, 100 kHz) which adds nanoscale surface features. Particular emphasis was laid on the influence of the direction of the laser beam polarization on the morphology of resulting hierarchical surfaces. Scanning electron and atomic force microscopy methods were used for the characterization of the hybrid surface structures. Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) calculations of the laser intensity distribution on the DLIP structures allowed to address the specific polarization dependence of the LIPSS formation observed in the second processing step. Complementary chemical analyzes by micro-Raman spectroscopy and attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy provided in-depth information on the chemical and structural material modifications and material degradation imposed by the laser processing. It was found that when the linear laser polarization was set perpendicular to the DLIP ridges, LIPSS could be formed on top of various DLIP structures. FDTD calculations showed enhanced optical intensity at the topographic maxima, which can explain the dependency of the morphology of LIPSS on the polarization with respect to the orientation of the DLIP structures. It was also found that the degradation of the polymer was enhanced for increasing accumulated fluence levels.