Plasmonic color printing with semicontinuous metal films is a lithography-free, environment-friendly method for getting bright, non-fading colors. Such films comprise islands – metal nanoparticles and their clusters of various dimensions, which resonate at different wavelengths upon external light illumination depending on the size and shape of the local particle structures. When impinged, a focused laser beam can locally modify the film morphology through thermally induced changes resulting in various optical spectra and colors. It is an inexpensive, simple method of generating a wide range of bright contrasting colors and is also feasible for large-area macroscopic coloration.
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