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

全球玻璃制造业是一家主要的经济企业，据Global Market Insights估计，2018年该行业的规模为2383.9亿美元，而且还在不断增长。玻璃具有特定和有用的特性，包括其100%的可回收性，体现了可持续制造。多功能玻璃表面在光学、光子学、电子学、生化传感、微/纳米流体、光流体和生物医学等领域都是必不可少的。该学院早期职业发展计划(Career)奖支持基础研究，以提供在保持良好光学性能的同时创建自清洁、防雾粗玻璃表面所需的知识。这种基于激光的表面纹理技术具有高度的可扩展性，潜在的生产能力超过10平方米/小时，允许在工业中进行商业化和应用。这项技术可能会对社会产生直接影响，因为它能够经济高效地快速制造自清洁和防雾窗户、车辆防护罩、眼镜、电子设备屏幕、医务人员的面罩以及其他功能化表面。该计划为研究生和本科生提供跨学科研究和教育机会。为了激发年轻一代对制造的兴趣，将为Artisphere美术艺术节开发一个“生物启发的制造艺术”项目。玻璃表面的超快激光结构化具有在多个长度尺度上创建表面纹理的潜力。目前存在的知识空白包括新发现的结构的形成过程，结构形成机制不清楚，无法制造分层结构，以及缺乏结构几何控制。这一职业项目通过建立对超快激光在玻璃表面形成多尺度表面结构的基本理解，弥合了这些知识差距。将进行实验研究，以阐明超快激光诱导的纳米波纹和新发现的微波纹的形成机制。将开发一个多尺度混合数值模式，以进一步了解表面结构的形成，并通过实验数据进行验证。我们将通过实验研究和数值模拟来探索在玻璃表面上创建分层结构的潜在物理机制。将创造一种双扫描方法，在玻璃表面上同时制造微米和纳米级的二维结构，以操纵表面颜色效果。将表征由不同表面结构产生的光学和润湿性能，并将揭示该技术的工艺-结构-性能关系。该项目的成果不仅将促进对电介质和其他材料表面结构形成的理解，而且还可以很容易地转移到其他激光制造工艺，如激光烧蚀、微/纳米机械加工和激光诱导等离子体。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.