Toward a new nanoLIFT transfer process

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The Laser Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT) is a direct‐write technique used to print biological materials such as living cells or molecules. During the LIFT process, the biomaterial to be printed is deposited on a target submitted to a nanosecond laser shot, and the ejecta are collected onto a receiving substrate. Despite the several advantages of this technique (control of the propelled quantity, no spoiling of the substrate), it remains difficult to be employed due to the high sensitivity of its control parameters. Recently, Duocastella published some experimental results which exhibit the real‐time jet formation process, under conditions similar to those present in the LIFT process [1].In the first Section, a typical experimental setup for LIFT process is presented. Then, simulations of Duocastella’s and Guillemot’s [2] experiments are carried out to model the jet formation in water when irradiated by an ultraviolet nanosecond laser pulse. The 2D axisymmetric hydrodynamic code CHIC (Code d'Hydrodynamique et d’Implosion du CELIA) [3] is used for these simulations with included equations of state (EOS) to take into account the behavior of water under standard conditions. Finally, an improvement of the LIFT technique which consists in using femtosecond lasers instead of nanosecond ones, is presented. It would allow to process smaller bioelements and to control the jet diameter, as it is directly related to the laser beam waist.