Significance The interaction between light and matter makes our world colorful, which includes absorption, reflection, scattering, transmission, diffraction, and interference. The antireflection (AR) characteristics of material surfaces are beneficial to improve the coupling of specific incident electromagnetic waves and the ability to distinguish particular electromagnetic signals. The AR characteristics are also helpful to shield and eliminate specific interference signals. Reducing the incident light reflection on material surfaces and improving reflection and transmission are vital to the utilization of solar energy, flat panel displays, infrared imaging, surface Raman enhancement, optoelectronic devices, military stealth, and aerospace technologies. Therefore, it is crucial to perform an effective light management and improve the performance of optical devices.

There exist many AR surface (ARS) fabrication methods, such as sol-gel, chemical vapor deposition, nanoimprinting, wet etching, dry etching, and laser processing. Among them, laser processing has attracted much attention owing to its advantages of high efficiency, programmability, high processing resolution, noncontact processing, high flexibility, and environment-friendly operation. Moreover, it is suitable for almost all materials (e.g., silicon-based materials, polymers, metal films, and carbon-based materials). Furthermore, femtosecond laser processing is a cold working process, which is highly suitable for complex and precise surface structure processing. Therefore, laser processing technologies stand out in the field of ARS preparation. To further improve the processing efficiency, multibeam parallel processing, or laser processing technology combined with other preparation methods such as wet etching or dry etching can be used. Above all, laser processing is a powerful tool for preparing AR structures on any material surfaces.

This review summarizes the latest progress in laser processing of ARSs , elaborates on the principle of AR and the selection of AR materials, and summarizes the current applications of ARSs in various fields, including solar cells, LEDs/OLEDs, photodetectors, and solar-driven water evaporators. Many excellent reports have described the preparation of ARSs; however, there are still some challenges in their large-scale industrial production and practical application. Therefore, summarizing the existing research is crucial to guide the future development of laser processing technologies.

Progress First, we summarize the principles of AR in detail using the Fresnel equation and elaborate on various structure sizes and light effects ( Fig. 1). Then, according to previous reports, we summarize the advantages and disadvantages of various ARS preparation methods, structures and morphologies, and the scope of laser processing technologies ( Table 1). In addition, we introduce how to effectively improve the efficiency of laser processing for preparing ARSs. For silicon-and silicon-oxide-based materials, Papadopoulos's research group has used circularly polarized ultrashort laser pulses to induce a subwavelength nanopillar structure on fused quartz, realizing a useful ARS with a full angle and broad spectral range ( Fig. 2). For metal-based materials, Fan's research group has successfully prepared an AR micro-nanohybrid structure on a copper surface using a laser direct writing strategy controlled by pulse injection ( Fig. 3). For polymer matrices, Leem's research group has prepared a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)AR layer using a moth-eye AR structure on a glass substrate using double-beam interference combined with dry etching and transfer technology ( Fig. 4). Moreover, silicon and silicon oxide, metals, and polymer-based materials are summarized comprehensively ( Table 2). ARS applications such as solar cells ( Fig. 5), OLEDs ( Fig. 6), photodetectors ( Fig. 7), solar-driven water evaporators ( Fig. 8), and multifunctional bionic surfaces are discussed in detail. Finally, the existing problems in ARS preparation are discussed, with a focus on the processing efficiency, problems in practical applications, and the challenges in industrial production.

Conclusion and Prospect ARSs based on micro-nanostructures display excellent characteristics such as wide angle, broad spectra, and polarization insensitivity, and have been widely used in solar cells, LEDs/OLEDs, photodetectors, and photothermal conversion. As the ARS preparation technology continues to develop, laser processing stands out owing to its high processing resolution, high efficiency, and programmable design. This review introduces the ARS technologies, including surfaces and morphologies, selection of AR materials, and the applications of ARSs, especially the progress in recent years. Although there are still some unresolved problems in the preparation of ARSs by laser processing, we firmly believe that through further in-depth research and structural optimization of existing ARSs, a much higher-quality ARS can be prepared. We expect these advances will bring development to many areas such as the photovoltaic industry, military, and aerospace industry as well as LEDs, and thus promote the development of renewable energy and national economy.