Wafer-Scale High-Throughput Structural Color Printing via Polygon-Scanner-Assisted Femtosecond Laser Lithography

The growing demand for high-resolution, environmentally sustainable color printing has spurred significant interest in structural color techniques as viable alternatives to pigment-based systems, which are plagued by limitations in durability, toxicity, and diffraction-limited resolution. Herein, we demonstrate a high-throughput, wafer-scale, full-color printing technique based on femtosecond laser lithography. By employing a polygon-scanner-assisted laser direct writing technique, we achieved rapid patterning of grating structures on chromium (Cr)/fused silica (SiO₂) multilayer substrate. The process exhibits a stable throughput of 4.8 cm²/h, which remains independent of pattern complexity, while supporting a maximum printing resolution exceeding 5000 dpi. Through systematic design and simulation using the Fourier Modal Method (FMM), we optimized grating parameters to achieve uniform diffraction efficiency across the visible spectrum. Experimental results confirm a wide gamut covering ∼60% of the standard RGB (sRGB) color space. As a demonstration, a high-fidelity reproduction of Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night was successfully printed on a 4-inch SiO₂ wafer, highlighting the technique's potential for high-resolution, large-area structural color printing in applications such as optical encryption, anti-counterfeiting, and metasurface fabrication.