Study on laser shock imprinting nanoscale line textures on metallic foil and its application in nanotribology

The surface precision and mechanical properties were the bottleneck of laser shock imprinting extensive application in micro/nano manufacturing. In this work, the high-quality and precise nanoscale line textures were fabricated on aluminum foil, and the influence of pulse laser energy and laser pre-shock processing on the preparation of nanoscale line textures was also investigated experimentally. The morphology of nanoscale line texture was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM), which obtained the best laser shock imprinting parameter. The microstructure and dislocation changes of laser shock imprinted aluminum foil were analyzed by transmission electron microscope (TEM), which explained the improvement of nanoscale line textured aluminum foil in electrochemical and mechanical properties. The nanotribological properties of nanoscale line textured aluminum foil were characterized by the AFM with sharp probe and SiO2 colloidal probe. The experimental results indicated that nanoscale line textured aluminum foil had the effect of reducing friction and adhesive force between AFM probe and aluminum foil. The laser shock imprinting can fabricate high-accuracy nanoscale line textures on aluminum foil. Compared with the original aluminum foil, the morphology, mechanical properties, electrochemical performance and nanotribological properties of nanoscale line textured aluminum foil were improved. [Display omitted] •Large area and high-quality nanoscale line textures fabricated on aluminum foil by laser shock imprinting.•The mechanical properties and electrochemical performance of nanoscale line textured aluminum foil were greatly improved.•Nanoscale grains and high density dislocation regions were observed in nanoscale line textured aluminum foil.•The nanoscale line textures on aluminum foil can reduce the adhesion and friction force.