3-D aluminum nanostructure with microhole array synthesized by femtosecond laser radiation for enhanced light extinction
1 Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
2 Department of Aerospace Engineering, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
Nanoscale Research Letters 2013, 8:477 doi:10.1186/1556-276X-8-477Published: 14 November 2013
This article presents 3-D aluminum micro-nanostructures for enhanced light absorption. Periodic microhole arrays were created by firing a train of femtosecond laser pulses at megahertz pulse frequency onto the surface of an aluminum target at ambient conditions. The laser trains ablated the target surface and created microholes leading to the generation of deposited nanostructures inside and around the microholes. These micro-nanostructures showed enhanced light absorption, which is attributed to surface plasmonics induced by the generation of both nano- and microstructures. These micro-nanostructures may be promising for solar cell applications.