Ultraprecision tool-servo cutting of pure nickel for fabricating micro/nanostructure arrays

The fabrication of micro/nanostructure arrays on nickel or nickel alloy surfaces is still a challenge because of the high hardness and low thermal conductivity. Motivated by this, this study proposed the ultraprecision tool-servo cutting process to fabricate micro/nanostructure arrays on the nickel surfaces. Experimental results showed the micro-lens array and sawtooth-shaped nanostructure array were successfully fabricated on pure nickel surfaces. The fabrication error of the micro-lens array is<1.2%, demonstrating the high fabrication accuracy of the proposed cutting process. Furthermore, the sawtooth-shaped nanostructure array triggers the generation of different structural colors. The cyan, blue, yellow, and green with high chromaticity and high brightness were clearly observed on the pure nickel surface. The fabrication time of the sawtooth-shaped nanostructure array is 45 mins, demonstrating the high fabrication efficiency of the proposed cutting process. This study provides a flexible and highly efficient fabrication method to generate micro/nanostructure arrays, which could extend the application fields of nickel and its alloy to optics.