Ultrafast laser processing technology has offered a wide range of opportunities in micro/nano fabrication and other fields such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, energy science, and photonics due to its controllable processing precision, diverse processing capabilities, and broad material adaptability. The processing abilities and applications of the ultrafast laser still need more exploration. In the field of material processing, controlling the atomic scale structure in nanomaterials is challenging. Complex effects exist in ultrafast laser surface/interface processing, making it difficult to modulate the nanostructure and properties of the surface/interface as required. In the ultrafast laser fabrication of micro functional devices, the processing ability needs to be improved. Here, we review the research progress of ultrafast laser micro/nano fabrication in the areas of material processing, surface/interface controlling, and micro functional devices fabrication. Several useful ultrafast laser processing methods and applications in these areas are introduced. With various processing effects and abilities, the ultrafast laser processing technology has demonstrated application values in multiple fields from science to industry.

Surfaces with micro-nanoscale structures show different optical responses, including infrared reflection, thermal radiation, and protective coloration. Direct realization of structure camouflage is important for material functionalities. However, external cloaks or coatings are necessary in structure camouflage, which limits the surface functionality. Here, we propose a novel strategy for the direct structure camouflage through topography inherited removal (TIR) with ultrafast laser, featuring pristine topography preservation and scattering surface fabrication. After multistep TIR, pristine topographies are partially and uniformly removed to preserve the original designed structures. Optical response changes show the suppression of specular reflection by uniformizing reflected light intensity to a low level on the inherited surface. We produce various structure camouflages on large scaled substrates, and demonstrate applications of information encryption in code extraction and word recognition through structure camouflage. The proposed strategy opens opportunities for infrared camouflage and other technologies, such as thermal management, device security, and information encryption.