Two‐Photon Polymerization of Nanocomposites for the Fabrication of Transparent Fused Silica Glass Microstructures

Fused silica glass is the material of choice for many high‐performance components in optics due to its high optical transparency combined with its high thermal, chemical, and mechanical stability. Especially, the generation of fused silica microstructures is of high interest for microoptical and bio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advanced materials (Weinheim) 2021-03, Vol.33 (9), p.e2006341-n/a
Main Authors: Kotz, Frederik, Quick, Alexander S., Risch, Patrick, Martin, Tanja, Hoose, Tobias, Thiel, Michael, Helmer, Dorothea, Rapp, Bastian E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
3D printing
Binder removal
Biomedical materials
Communication
Communications
Direct laser writing
Fused silica
fused silica glass
Materials science
Microfluidics
Micrometers
Nanocomposites
Photons
Silica glass
Silicon dioxide
Surface roughness
two‐photon polymerization
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Summary:Fused silica glass is the material of choice for many high‐performance components in optics due to its high optical transparency combined with its high thermal, chemical, and mechanical stability. Especially, the generation of fused silica microstructures is of high interest for microoptical and biomedical applications. Direct laser writing (DLW) is a suitable technique for generating such devices, as it enables nearly arbitrary structuring down to the sub‐micrometer level. In this work, true 3D structuring of transparent fused silica glass using DLW with tens of micrometer resolution and a surface roughness of Ra ≈ 6 nm is demonstrated. The process uses a two‐photon curable silica nanocomposite resin that can be structured by DLW, with the printout being convertible to transparent fused silica glass via thermal debinding and sintering. This technology will enable a plethora of applications from next‐generation optics and photonics to microfluidic and biomedical applications with resolutions on the scale of tens of micrometers. High‐resolution 3D printing of photocurable silica nanocomposites using two‐photon direct laser writing is presented. The nanocomposites are consecutively debound and sintered to high‐quality fused silica microstructures with optical surface roughness.
ISSN:0935-9648
1521-4095
1521-4095
DOI:10.1002/adma.202006341