Nano-thick flakes that are either flat, and specularly-reflective in visible light or that have microroughness intentionally controlled to disperse or interfere with visible light. Coatings and inks utilizing such flakes. Method for fabrication of such flakes in partial vacuum includes the repeated multiple times deposition of a release layer over a substrate surface and a flake layer over the release layer to form a multilayer structure further reduced to individual flakes. Reactive metal is passivated inline with the deposition of the flake layer for superior corrosion resistance. Chemically-functional materials are optionally added to the release material to transfer their functionality to the surface of flake layer to create unique functional properties on a flake surface before the multilayer structure is removed from the substrate.