Laser chemical vapor deposition (LCVD) technology has its unique advantages in reducing deposition temperatures, enhancing film purity and directly writing complex thin film patterns compared with conventional chemical vapor deposition (CVD). This technology has been widely applied in thin film deposition and attracted growing attention from both research and industries. This review categorizes the LCVD technology into three types according to the laser-matter interaction mechanisms, including laser pyrolysis, laser photolysis, and laser resonance excitation sensitization. We illustrate the deposition principles governed by the three different mechanisms in detail, and briefly introduce the commonly used equipment, and summarize the latest research progress of LCVD technology in synthesis and applications of metals, carbon-based materials, oxides and semiconductors. The detection and analysis methods used in LCVD are specially introduced, and the challenges and prospects of LCVD in material synthesis are discussed.

In order to investigate the regulation effect of hydrogel micropatterns of different sizes on cell behaviors, large-area polygons and polygonal microstructures of different sizes were achieved by a femtosecond laser maskless optical projection lithography technique, in combination with a large-area splicing method. The optimum processing conditions and the wettability of the microstructure are studied in detail. The coculture experimental results of fibroblasts with patterned substrates showed that the spatial confinement in the microstructure can change the cell morphology and effectively regulate the cell growth behaviors. In particular, in the small polygonal and polygonal star microstructure, the nucleus tends to fall into the concave lacunae of the microstructure, and the spreading of cytoskeleton gradually tends to be consistent with the morphology of microstructures. This study indicates that the size of microstructural pattern units is very important for inducing cell behavior and function, which would provide a new technology and new method for cell research in vitro by using biocompatible hydrogel microstructures.

Inspired by the nepenthes in nature, slippery liquid-infused porous substrates (SLIPS) have attracted extensive research attentions. In this work, a graphene @ polyvinylidene fluoride (G@PVDF) composite substrate was ablated by a laser technology. Then paraffin is uniformly filled in the grooves by a thermal spin-coating method. A confocal laser scanning microscope and a scanning electron microscope were used to characterize the surface morphology and depth of the grooves. UV3600 and Infrared thermal imagers were used to test the absorption and photothermal characteristics of the samples. The droplet is "pinned" on the surface without light irradiation. Since graphene has excellent photothermal conversion capability, the photothermal conversion happens upon light irradiation. The temperature is high enough to melt the paraffin, the interface state changes from the friction gas-liquid-solid interface to a smooth gas-liquid-lubricant-solid interface. The droplet can slide at an inclination angle of about 10° without leaving any residues. In addition, the droplet sliding can be controlled by an external voltage. This work shows potentials in manipulating the behavior of droplets.

Consumer electronical markets are now promoting a rapid advance in flexible electronics with high integration, miniaturization, and wearable properties, which in turn puts forward new requirements for the fabrication of flexible electronics. Photolithography techniques are advantageous for their high accuracy, but it is disadvantageous due to high cost, complexity, and low efficiency. In comparison, femtosecond (fs) laser micro-nano fabrication, as a high-efficiency and simple technique, has shown its capacity and potential for the fabrication of flexible electronics. This review summarizes five fs-laser based techniques for the fabrication of flexible electronics, including laser synthesis of nanomaterials in liquids, laser-induced nanomaterial chemical-reduction, laser-induced nano joining, laser electrode patterning, and laser surface texturing. The corresponding mechanisms are briefly introduced, followed by a demonstration of typical flexible electronics and their properties. Finally, the challenges in this field are analyzed, and our perspective is provided.

As a common structure, microholes are widely used in various fields, including biomedical, aerospace, 3D packaging and so on. Femtosecond laser has unique advantages in drilling high-quality microhole due to its ultra-short pulse duration and ultra-high peak power. This review covers temporally/spatially shaped femtosecond laser microhole drilling methods and their applications over the past decade, including femtosecond laser temporally/spatially shaped methods, temporally/spatially shaped femtosecond laser microhole drilling based on electrons dynamics control, and the applications of microhole in transmittance enhancement and anti-reflection, material cutting, oil/water separation, fog collection and gas collection. Furthermore, present challenges and future research opportunities in this field are analyzed.