Dynamical systems based on the interplay of nonlinear feedback mechanisms are ubiquitous in nature [1][2][3][4][5] . Well-understood examples from photonics include mode locking 6 and a broad class of fractal optics 7 , including self-similarity 8 . In addition to the fundamental interest in such systems, fascinating technical functionalities that are difficult or even impossible to achieve with linear systems can emerge naturally from them 7 if the right control tools can be applied. Here, we demonstrate a method that exploits positive nonlocal feedback to initiate, and negative local feedback to regulate, the growth of ultrafast laser-induced metal-oxide nanostructures with unprecedented uniformity, at high speed, low cost and on non-planar or flexible surfaces. The nonlocal nature of the feedback allows us to stitch the nanostructures seamlessly, enabling coverage of indefinitely large areas with subnanometre uniformity in periodicity. We demonstrate our approach through the fabrication of titanium dioxide and tungsten oxide nanostructures, but it can also be extended to a large variety of other materials.The fabrication of nanostructures on surfaces is of paramount importance in nanotechnology and materials science 9 . There are several established techniques, including photolithography, electron-beam lithography, imprint lithography 10 and laser interference lithography 11 , as well as non-conventional approaches such as selfassembly 12 and direct laser writing 13 . These techniques require either high-cost, complex systems or offer limited flexibility. An alternative flexible and potentially very low-cost method is laserinduced periodic surface structuring (LIPSS). The first observation of LIPSS dates back to 1965 14 . However, after almost 50 years and a large body of published work that has demonstrated LIPSS on various metals, semiconductors and glasses [15][16][17][18][19] , the method has not found widespread use due to the stubborn problem of quality control 18,19 .Despite the evident role of self-assembly in the LIPSS process, uniformity and long-range order remain poor, a problem we identified as originating from the fact that the structures are initiated from multiple seed locations concurrently and independently, thereby producing an irregular pattern. Because the process is irreversible, without self-correction, these irregularities become frozen. Our solution to this relies on carefully exploiting feedback mechanisms to tightly regulate the formation of nanostructures induced by ultrashort pulses. This process can be summarized in three steps.(1) The laser beam, with a peak intensity close to the ablation threshold for titanium, is focused on a titanium surface, where it is scattered by existing nanostructures or any surface defects 15 . The interference of the scattered and incident fields leads to intensity variations in the immediate neighbourhood of the scattering point. (2) At points where the threshold intensity for ablation is exceeded, titanium reacts rapidly with O 2 from the air, form...