KEYWORDS: Printing, Polymerization, Ultraviolet radiation, 3D printing, 3D projection, 3D modeling, Lithography, Point spread functions, Light sources and illumination, Prototyping, Microfabrication
Single-photon multi-wavelength polymerization reactions were previously shown to break the diffraction limit in 2D lithography and in some cases used to implement 3D printing techniques. We exploit these types of reactions in combination with a computer driven full-field irradiation method to implement a highly parallel threedimensional micro-fabrication technique. In this manuscript we are presenting the analysis of the advantages and limitations of the method comparing to the state-of-the-art. We believe that, due to high speed and low cost, this fabrication approach will shift the paradigm of micro-3D printing from prototyping and R&D applications to serial production.
Modern Two-Photon Lithography (TPL) is a golden standard among various 3D micro- and nano-fabrication techniques. The two-photon absorption phenomenon allows to selectively initiate the polymerization reaction in different points in 3D space, enabling accurate point-by-point 3D. TPL has a well-known constraint, the limited speed of printing related to the time it takes to scan a volume by a focused femtosecond laser beam. The inherent need for extremely high illumination intensity required for initiation of the polymerization reaction poses a fundamental problem. We are developing an alternative 3D printing technique based on a multi-wavelength polymerization process that requires orders of magnitude lower illumination intensities while still allowing localization of the polymerization reaction in 3D space. Multi-wavelength polymerization was previously used to break the diffraction limit in 2D and semi-3D lithography. We are exploiting this phenomenon to implement a highly parallelized fully-three-dimensional method. Since the multi-wavelength polymerization requires relatively low illumination intensities, a low cost full-field illumination system can be implemented increasing the printing speed by several orders of magnitude. The existing nano- and micro-3D printing methods demonstrated an outstanding potential in rapid prototyping of a wide range of applications ranging from micro-optics to micro-fluidics and bio-scaffolds. We believe that our approach will shift the paradigm of micro-3D printing from prototyping and R&D applications to serial production of final products.
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