*Sarah N. Chowdhury¹, Piotr Nyga^1,2, Zhaxylyk Kudyshev¹, Alexander V. Kildishev¹, Vladimir M. Shalaev¹, Alexandra Boltasseva^1
1Purdue University, West Lafayette IN; ²Military University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland
Among many plasmonic types of structures, semicontinuous metal films (SMF) which comprises of random, fractal-type island films can confine light at a nanoscale under illumination and results in an enhancement of local electromagnetic field. Upon laser modifications, such structures can be utilized to generate bright vivid colors for printing. This non-fading and environment friendly way of producing vibrant colors is achieved through laser modification of the random nanoparticles comprising the SMF having different sizes and shapes which resonate at different wavelengths. Laser post processing is done to thermally induce changes in the SMF nanostructures that lead to variation in the optical spectra. Such changes then allow different parts of the spectra to be reflected and we then can observe beautiful colors. This structure can be fabricated easily and can be applied to the macroscopic, mesoscopic and nanoscopic printing of innovatory fade-free artistic images as one example of application.