Laser-assisted meniscus-confined electrodeposition for high-quality microscale metal structures

Meniscus-confined electrodeposition (MCED) enables the precise fabrication of metal microstructures at room temperature. This method offers advantages, including high material utilization rates and design flexibility. Consequently, it represents a promising approach for micro/nano-scale material deposition and has garnered significant interest in the field. This study introduces a novel laser-assisted meniscus-confined electrodeposition (L-MCED) process. This work investigates the effects of laser irradiation and irradiated area size on the deposition process and resulting structural morphology, maintaining a constant cathode movement rate (V C ). Laser irradiation increases the liquid bridge temperature, reaching 70 °C, and enhances the current in the I-t curve by approximately 64.6 %. Compared to conventional MCED, L-MCED resulted in a 2.70 % increase in the average deposition rate and a 61.19 % decrease in diameter extreme deviation. Specifically, L-MCED F achieved a 57.53 % increase in the average volumetric growth rate and a 53.85 % increase in deposition efficiency. Copper microcolumns tend to grow preferentially towards the laser-irradiated side. When the laser-irradiated area encompasses the entire meniscus-shaped liquid bridge, the deposited microcolumns exhibit greater uniformity and enhanced cylindrical symmetry. Furthermore, laser irradiation can promptly eliminate crystallization at the micro-pipette tip and facilitate liquid bridge formation without physical contact. Laser irradiation enhances the stability, deposition rate, and quality of the MCED process. This study provides new insights and methods for the efficient and high-quality fabrication of micro/nano-scale structures. Furthermore, it offers a theoretical basis and experimental foundation for the future optimization of the L-MCED technique. • Innovative proposal of L-MCED multi energy field composite processing technology • Laser enhances MCED, boosting deposition rate, efficiency and uniformity. • The size of the laser-irradiated area affects the MCED process. • Laser promotes stability, contactless bridge formation and crystallization removal.