Abstract
Researchers have used two-photon polymerization to fabricate tall and intricate structures with submicrometre resolution. Two-photon polymerization is a popular scheme whereby a focused laser beam polymerizes a photosensitive liquid to create three-dimensional objects. However, structures fabricated using this technique are usually limited in height by the working distance of the microscope lens used to focus the laser into the sample. Boris Chichkov and co-workers from the Laser Zentrum Hannover in Germany have now adapted two-photon polymerization with a vertical motion system that allows the microscope objective and its protective cover glass to be moved down into the reservoir of the liquid photoresist. As a result, they were able to fabricate a variety of high-aspect-ratio structures, including tubes, funnels, hour-glass shapes and a miniature model of the Tokyo SkyTree.
Highlights
With ultrafast laser systems, high-intensity laser pulses in a localized focal volume and time can be generated
We developed a novel two-photon polymerization (2PP) configuration for fabrication of high-aspect three-dimensional (3D) structures, with an overall height larger than working distance of the microscope objective used for laser beam focusing into a photosensitive material
In the 2PP process, femtosecond laser pulses initiate 2PP via two-photon absorption and subsequent polymerization in an extremely localized focal volume
Summary
High-intensity laser pulses in a localized focal volume and time can be generated This allows for novel laser applications in material processing based on nonlinear laser–matter interactions.[1,2,3,4,5,6] An attractive three-dimensional (3D) micro- and nanofabrication method using ultrafast laser pulses is the two-photon polymerization (2PP) technique of photosensitive materials.[7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15] In the 2PP process, femtosecond (fs) laser pulses initiate 2PP via two-photon absorption and subsequent polymerization in an extremely localized focal volume. Often a tradeoff has to be made between working distance of the microscope objective and process resolution
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