Interplay between plastic deformations and optical properties of metal surfaces: A multiscale study

Abstract

Plastic deformations and instabilities may significantly change the surface geometry at macro-, meso-, and nanoscales. Here we investigate an interplay of different plastic instabilities emerging in the course of plastic deformation and optical properties of metal surface. It is demonstrated that optical reflectivity of aluminum surface could be significantly suppressed by a simple uniaxial stretching. On the other hand, embossing certain engineered features into the metal surface could make it significantly brighter. These results provide guidelines for the control of metal surface morphology in order to achieve desirable optical characteristics such as high reflectance and omnidirectional coloration.