Nanosecond pulsed laser blackening of copper

Nanosecond (12 ns) pulsed laser processing of copper at 532 nm resulted in the formation of homogenously distributed, highly organized microstructures. This led to the fabrication of large area black copper substrates with absorbance of over 97% in the spectral range from 250 nm to 750 nm, and a broadband absorbance of over 80% between 750 nm and 2500 nm. Optical and chemical analyses of the fabricated black metal are presented and discussed. The employed laser is an industrially adaptable source and the presented technique for fabrication of black copper could find applications in broadband thermal radiation sources, solar energy absorbers, irradiative heat transfer devices, and thermophotovoltaics. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4769215]