Laser coloration of titanium films: New development for jewelry and decoration

In this work, we studied a technology of color images formation on a surface of titanium film deposited on silver and gold substrates. The coloration takes place due to film oxidation by the action of a fiber laser with nanosecond duration of pulses. Color coordinates for main colors obtained on gold and silver surfaces were calculated. According to measured reflectance spectra the final color resulted from both interference effects in the thin oxide film and substrate optical properties. Mechanical and chemical resistance tests of formed images demonstrated a high degree of adhesion between deposited titanium film and precious metals. Therefore, the proposed technology has a strong potential for jewelry industry implementation. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.