Scientists Alter the Colors of Many Metals

Scientists in Rochester, N.Y., have found a way to turn several metals into an array of colors with the use of a laser.

In Friday’s Applied Physics Letters, University of Rochester researcher Chunlei Guo cited his latest study, which uses laser light to change the properties of virtually any metal to allow them to become a different color.

The new discovery follows Guo’s 2006 breakthrough, in which he used a similar process to turn several metals pure black.

Since the discovery of the black metal we’ve been determined to get full control on getting metals to reflect only a certain color and absorb the rest and now we finally can make a metal reflect almost any color we wish, Guo said.

Guo said expansion of his discovery could allow factories to use one laser to make different colored bicycles, etched photos in kitchen appliances or primary-colored gold jewelry.