High speed fabrication of absorbance-enhanced micro–nanostructures on nickel surface using hundred-nanosecond pulsed laser

We report the generation of micro–nanostructures on nickel surface using a pulsed laser with pulse duration of 100/200 ns. The blacken nickel, which is covered with dense broccoli-like clusters having strong light trapping capacity covering broad spectrum (200–2000 nm), can be produced at a high laser scanning speed up to 100 mm/s. The absorbance of the blacken nickel can be over 98% in the UV, more than 97% in the visible, and over 90% in the near IR. In addition, by treating the nickel surface with two crossing scans of the laser, highly organized and shape-controllable periodic arrays of hump-craters can be fabricated.