title: Laser Treatment of Nanoparticulated Metal Thin Films for Ceramic Tile Decoration.
abstract: This paper presents a new method for the fabrication of metal-like decorative layers on glazed ceramic tiles. It consists of the laser treatment of Cu thin films prepared by electron-beam evaporation at glancing angles. A thin film of discontinuous Cu nanoparticles was electron-beam-evaporated in an oblique angle configuration onto ceramic tiles and an ample palette of colors obtained by laser treatment both in air and in vacuum. Scanning electron microscopy along with UV-vis-near-IR spectroscopy and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry analysis were used to characterize the differently colored layers. On the basis of these analyses, color development has been accounted for by a simple model considering surface melting phenomena and different microstructural and chemical transformations of the outmost surface layers of the samples.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Sevilla, CSIC-Universidad Sevilla , Avenida Américo Vespucio 49, 41092 Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: V J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Rico
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lahoz
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física & I3N, Universidade de Aveiro , 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rey-García
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Sevilla, CSIC-Universidad Sevilla , Avenida Américo Vespucio 49, 41092 Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yubero
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Sevilla, CSIC-Universidad Sevilla , Avenida Américo Vespucio 49, 41092 Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Espinós
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: de la Fuente
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Sevilla, CSIC-Universidad Sevilla , Avenida Américo Vespucio 49, 41092 Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: González-Elipe
keywords: Cu metallization; GLAD; ceramic tiles; electron-beam evaporation; laser irradiation; laser melting; oblique angle deposition; surface plasmon resonance