The laser-assisted manufacturing technology has significant advantages in meeting various demands such as complex structures, functional integration, customized devices, and cost-effectiveness, which makes it a highly attractive option for fabricating sensors. In this review, the latest advancements and strategies in intelligent sensor development through laser processing were surveyed and outlined following the interaction of laser and materials. Laser-assisted manufacturing technologies have been extensively applied in materials science and device processing. Firstly, laser technology can be utilized in a wide range of materials, encompassing carbon-based materials, metals, and metallic oxides. In the field of device scale processing, laser manufacturing is widely used in micro/nano structures, planar device construction, and stereoscopic electronic devices such as cutting, engraving, and lithography. Additionally, laser technology provides robust support for sensor applications, covering fields such as pressure sensing, temperature sensing, gas sensing, and biosensors. Furthermore, laser considerably serves in real application areas such as multifunctional sensing systems, actuators, and robots. The widespread application of laser manufacturing technology in sensor platform fabrication offers effective solutions for realizing the miniaturization, multifunctionality, and integration of sensors.

Vapor deposition and three-dimensional (3D) printing technology are considered to be conventional methods to achieve patterned metal film preparation through the assistance of masks and high temperature. Therefore, there are still some challenges in fabricating metal films in template-free and normal temperature environment. In this work, we report a flexible and rapid laser metal transfer (LMT) technique for fabricating the various metal films (Cu, Ni, Sn, Al, Fe, and Ag) with different patterns without templates on arbitrary substrates (glass, polyimide (PI) films, and aluminum nitride (AlN) ceramic). Especially, the obtained transparent conductive glass displays high transmittance (more than 90%) and adjustable resistances (≈ 5 Ω). According to the Joule effect, the interface resistance between Cu particles and copper oxide coating produces the high temperature approximately 280 °C at 2 V in a short time (≈ 60 s) and remains stable at 120 °C over 12 h. At last, the multifunctional glass with Cu patterns also shows excellent bactericidal activity (≈ 95%). This work demonstrates that laser metal transfer is an exceeding effective means of fabricating the micro/nano structures with potential applications in functional devices.