Scalable Inkjet-Based Structural Color Printing by Molding Transparent Gratings on Multilayer Nanostructured Surfaces

Abstract

To enable customized manufacturing of structural colors for commercial applications, up-scalable, low-cost, rapid, and versatile printing techniques are highly demanded. In this paper, we introduce a viable strategy for scaling up production of custom-input images by patterning individual structural colors on separate layers, which are then vertically stacked and recombined into full-color images. By applying this strategy on molded-ink-on-nanostructured-surface printing, we present an industry-applicable inkjet structural color printing technique termed multilayer molded-ink-on-nanostructured-surface (M-MIONS) printing, in which structural color pixels are molded on multiple layers of nanostructured surfaces. Transparent colorless titanium dioxide nanoparticles were inkjet-printed onto three separate transparent polymer substrates, and each substrate surface has one specific subwavelength grating pattern for molding the deposited nanoparticles into structural color pixels of red, green, or blue primary color. After index-matching lamination, the three layers were vertically stacked and bonded to display a color image. Each primary color can be printed into a range of different shades controlled through a half-tone process, and full colors were achieved by mixing primary colors from three layers. In our experiments, an image size as big as 10 cm by 10 cm was effortlessly achieved, and even larger images can potentially be printed on recombined grating surfaces. In one application example, the M-MIONS technique was used for printing customizable transparent color optical variable devices for protecting personalized security documents. In another example, a transparent diffractive color image printed with the M-MIONS technique was pasted onto a transparent panel for overlaying colorful information onto one's view of reality.

All-dielectric metasurface for high-performance structural color

“…Despite of the above continuous successes, the practical applications of structural color in surface decoration 24 , digital displays 25 , molecules sensing 26 , optical security 27 , and information storage 28 are still restricted. This is because both types of structural color only possess one or a few the above unique characteristics, far from the commercial requirements.…”

Structural coloration by inkjet-printing of optical microcavities and metasurfaces

“…Even more recently, inkjet-printing was used to deposit (colorless) titanium dioxide nanoparticles onto subwavelength polymer gratings to achieve red, green and blue structurally colored pixels. 44 These recent reports exemplify the growing interest in this emerging field and highlight the importance of addressing the several remaining challenges for inkjet-based fabrication of structural colors.…”

Nonvolatile, Multicolored Photothermal Writing of Block Copolymer Structural Color

“…Owing to their photonic bandgaps, they exhibit structural colors (SCs) in the visible wavelength region . PCs have potential applications in low‐power reflective‐mode displays, media boards, and sensors because of their versatile tunability of SCs through the dielectric contrast, dimensions, and shapes of the structural elements. PCs have also been demonstrated as nonvolatile, high‐density information recording media for various emerging smart technologies .…”