Influence of gold nanolayer coating on the continuous-wave laser ablation of a pure aluminum surface: Evaluations of structural and optical features

In this paper, formation of uniform and large-area micro/nanostructures on pure aluminum surfaces using a continuous-wave laser irradiation is presented. Gold nanolayer coating was utilized as a confinement layer for controlling the possible hydrodynamic phenomena in a molten area. Dependency of the laser-induced morphology on the thickness of a gold coating was investigated in this regard. Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, grazing test of the X-ray diffraction, and optical absorption/reflection spectroscopy in UV/visible/IR ranges were employed to characterize the samples. Results showed that the formation of uniform structures of average sizes of 50 nm-5 μm on aluminum surface was possible following the irradiation of a continuous-wave CO ₂ laser, delivering 130 W beam power. Alterations of the surface morphology brought about an increase in specific absorption peaks at the UV region and the appearance of an absorption peak in the visible range. In addition, these structure-covered surfaces provided interesting reflection behaviors in different spectral areas, which can clearly reflect their high potential to be used as selective solar absorbers. The results of this investigation indicated that optical characteristics such as absorption and emission coefficients as well as ξ factor were 0.98, 0.13, and 7.53, respectively. It can therefore be concluded that this process can be considered an efficient and fast technique to fabricate selective solar absorbers.