Formation of solar absorber surface on nickel with femtosecond laser irradiation

Through femtosecond (fs) laser pulse irradiation, we produce two-dimensional quasiperiodic arrays of nanostructure-covered conical microstructures (NC-CMs) on Ni. We also find that a significant amount of nickel oxide covers NC-CMs owing to the interaction of fs laser pulses with Ni in ambient air. We show that, by controlling the fluence of laser, the reflectance of the fs laser-treated Ni surface can change dramatically in the infrared but the surface still has a high absorptance at UV and visible wavelengths. Because of this unique spectral reflectance, the fs laser-treated Ni surface is well suited for use as a solar absorber surface.