Femtosecond laser modification of vanadium dioxide for color display applications

• Published in: Applied physics letters Vol. 123; no. 9
• Main Authors: Xie, Ran-Ran, Zhu, Han, Xing, Ruofei, Chu, Lingrui, Wang, Zhuoqun, Xia, Ruyi, Zhao, Wenxiao, Jia, Yuechen, Chen, Yanxue, Juodkazis, Saulius, Chen, Feng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melville American Institute of Physics 28.08.2023
• Subjects: Applied physics; Color; Crystallization; Data storage; Direct laser writing; Display devices; Functional materials; Modulation; Optical properties; Phase transitions; Thin films; Vanadium dioxide; Vanadium oxides
• ISSN: 0003-6951; 1077-3118
• DOI: 10.1063/5.0166212

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) has been one of the most significant functional materials for its prominent property change during phase transition. Here the modulation in crystallinity and morphology of VO2 thin film is achieved by femtosecond laser direct writing. Both the local crystallization from an amorphous phase and self-organized periodical structures are generated due to the well-controlled femtosecond laser energy deposition and controlled accumulation. The dynamic evolution of either the volumetric or surface nano-/micro-structure depends strongly on the femtosecond laser conditions, revealed by changes of the Raman bands and reflectance spectra at visible wavelengths. Based on the distinguishable color display performance of differently processed regions, a four-color-level image has been drawn on a VO2 thin film. This work proposes an elaborate “annealing by light” and optical property modulation method for the VO2, paving the way to producing complex integrated multi-functional devices for color display and data storage.