High-efficiency localized electrochemical deposition based on ultrafast laser surface modification

Localized electrochemical deposition is a promising technology that allows for additive manufacturing of micro-nano structures in designated areas with high precision and controllability. However, ultra-low printing speed of current localized electrochemical deposition hinders its practical applications, especially the manufacturing of large-scale and complex devices. Here we propose a strategy combining ultrafast laser surface modification with traditional electrochemical deposition to achieve high-efficiency and large-scale printing. With using a focused ultrafast laser, arbitrary large-scale patterned structure can be efficiently scratched on substrate surface. Since the laser scratched region has formed nano-sized surface relief structures which experience local field enhancement when subjected to a voltage, the electrochemical deposition rate in the laser scratched region can be significantly improved, resulting in equivalent localized electrochemical deposition under traditional electrochemical deposition conditions. Such parallel electrochemical deposition can significantly shorten the printing time for large-scale devices. As for the processing of microstructure arrays with a size of 16 mm², the printing time is compressed within 10 min, among which the electrochemical deposition process is compressed to 10 s. The results demonstrate the potential for improving the efficiency and scalability of localized electrochemical deposition through this combined approach.