CAREER: Multiscale Surface Structuring by Ultrafast Lasers for Multifunctional Glass Surfaces

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The global glass manufacturing industry is a principal economic enterprise which was estimated by Global Market Insights at $238.39 billion in 2018 and is growing. Glass has specific and useful properties including its 100% recyclability embodying sustainable manufacturing. Multifunctional glass surfaces are essential in the areas of optics, photonics, electronics, biochemical sensing, micro/nanofluidics, optofluidics, and biomedicine. This Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award supports fundamental research to provide needed knowledge for creating self-cleaning, anti-fogging rough glass surfaces while maintaining good optical properties. This laser-based surface texturing technology is highly scalable with a potential throughput of over 10 m2/hour allowing for commercialization and application in industry. This technology could have a direct impact on society, by enabling cost-effective and fast manufacturing of self-cleaning and anti-fogging windows, vehicle shields, eyeglasses, electronic device screens, face shields for medical personnel, among other functionalized surfaces. The program supports interdisciplinary research and education opportunities to both graduate and undergraduate students. An “Art of Bio-Inspired Manufacturing” program will be developed for Artisphere Fine Art festival to inspire the younger generation’s interest in manufacturing. Ultrafast laser structuring of glass surfaces has potential to create surface texturing at multiple length scales. There are currently knowledge gaps including the formation process of newly discovered structures, unclear structure formation mechanisms, inability to fabricate hierarchical structures, and lack of structure geometry control. This CAREER project bridges these knowledge gaps by establishing the fundamental understanding of multiscale surface structure formation on glass by ultrafast lasers. Experimental studies will be conducted to elucidate the formation mechanisms of ultrafast laser-induced nano-ripples and newly discovered micro-ripples. A multiscale hybrid numerical model will be developed to gain further insights about the surface structure formation and be validated by experimental data. The underlying physics of creating hierarchical structures on glass surfaces will be explored by both experimental study and numerical simulation. A double scanning method will be created to fabricate both microscale and nanoscale two-dimensional structures on glass surfaces manipulating surface color effects. The optical and wetting properties resulting from different surface structures will be characterized, and the process-structure-property relationship will be disclosed for this technique. The outcome of this project will not only advance the understanding of surface structure formation in dielectrics and other materials, but also be readily transferrable to other laser manufacturing processes, such as laser ablation, micro/nanomachining, and laser-induced plasma.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.