Controlling the angular spectrum content of light fields is a basic beam shaping strategy implying the control of the wavevector distribution. Here we propose a novel class of refractive optical elements generated by folding the conical surface of a usual (conical) axicon. In particular, we explore folding processes where the continuous deformation of the circular cross-section of an axicon lead to the appearance of geometrical singularities (cusps). This is illustrated considering two prototypical families derived from hypocycloidal and epicycloidal geometries. Such topological axicons have been fabricated at the micron scale by using photopolymerization technique and characterized both experimentally and theoretically.
Herein we present the implementation of autofocusing in multi-photon Direct Laser Writing (DLW) lithography. It is based on fluorescence occurring within the confined volume of a photopolymer/photoresin excitation resulting to a voxel generation. The proposed method is further successfully employed for the nanofabrication of large scale (500 nm in height, up to 25 mm2 in area) Diffractive Optical Elements (DOE). The produced structures are characterized using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and confocal optical profilometry. The introduced technique is potential for a simple, price and effort efficient upgrade of currently existing DLW micro-/nano-lithography setups.
We characterize laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) in transparent photopolymers by a sub-ps laser pulses of 515 nm wavelength representing case of high light intensities. Five different photopolymers (SZ2080, OrmoComp, SU-8, PDMS and PMMA) widely used in the laser lithography are investigated. The relationship of the damage threshold and optical band-gap energy of the polymers indicating possible damage mechanism is considered. Incubation model validating damage threshold dependence on the number of laser pulses is studied as well. The obtained characteristic values of LIDT reveal potential of photopolymers and their possible applications in high power laser systems.
We report direct laser fabrication of free-standing 3D structures in a sol-gel photo-polymer SZ2080, poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEG-DA-700) and thermo-polymer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) without use of two-photon absorbing photo-sensitizers. By estimating the multi-photon and avalanche ionization rates in the focal volume it is shown that bulk structuring of pure materials was achieved via a controlled avalanche. It is shown that several non-photosesitized materials can be combined for fabrication of composite material structures evoking a possibility to create non-toxic biocompatible scaffolds for tissue engineering, transparent microoptical elements and higher damage threshold photonic devices.
We present a developed method based on direct laser writing (DLW) and chemical metallization (CM) for microfabrication of three-dimensional (3D) metallic structures. Such approach enables manufacturing of free-form electro conductive interconnects which can be used in integrated electric circuits such micro-opto-electro mechanical systems (MOEMS). The proposed technique employing ultrafast high repetition rate laser enables efficient fabrication of 3D microstructures on dielectric as well as conductive substrates. The produced polymer links out of organic-inorganic composite matrix after CM serve as interconnects of separate metallic contacts, their dimensions are: height 15μm, width 5μm, length 35-45 μm and could provide 300 nΩm resistivity measured in a macroscopic way. This proves the techniques potential for creating integrated 3D electric circuits at microscale.
Femtosecond laser polymerization of photonic crystals (PhCs) and diffractive micro-optical elements which can be easily integrated into complex 3D geometries of micro-fluidic chips is analysed in IR spectral domain. Thermal properties of such 3D optical elements and patterns were investigated by thermal imaging, IR spectroscopy and a heat-wave method using absorption-heating with visible light. Thermal imaging allows a simple in situ judgement on a 3D fabrication quality of photonic crystals and is simpler compared with scanning electron imaging. Photonic stop gaps at IR spectral range were clearly observed and IR mapping at the specific spectral wavelength reveals spatial uniformity of PhCs. Potential to use IR imaging with spectral IR plasmonic filters for sensor applications is discussed.
Femtosecond laser fabrication has been used to make hybrid refractive and di ractive micro-optical elements in photo-polymer SZ2080. For applications in micro- uidics, axicon lenses were fabricated (both single and arrays), for generation of light intensity patterns extending through the entire depth of a typically tens-of-micrometers deep channel. Further hybridisation of an axicon with a plasmonic slot is fabricated and demonstrated nu- merically. Spiralling chiral grooves were inscribed into a 100-nm-thick gold coating sputtered over polymerized micro-axicon lenses, using a focused ion beam. This demonstrates possibility of hybridisation between optical and plasmonic 3D micro-optical elements. Numerical modelling of optical performance by 3D-FDTD method is presented.
Here we report Direct Laser Writing (DLW) based fabrication of aspheric microlenses out of hybrid organicinorganic photopolymer ORMOSIL. Using the advantages of the flexible manufacturing technique the produced microlenses are embedded inside a fluidic channel. Applying the soft-lithography molding technique the structures are transferred to the elastomer PDMS and hydrogel PEG-DA-258 materials. Measurements show that such replica transferring can reproduce the initial structures into other materials on desired substrates with no noticeable losses of quality. Furthermore, it makes femtosecond laser redundant once the original structure is made. The embedded structures are immersed into several liquid media (acetone, methanol) and the focusing performance corresponding to the change of the optical path length of the microlenses is obtained. It well matches with the estimated values. In conclusion, we report a combination of laser fabrication and replication methods as an efficient way to produce optofluidic components, which can be used for light based sensing, trapping or other applications such as MOEMS devices.
Spectra of fields for applications of polymeric 3D micro/nanostructures is rapidly widening thus demanding
the development of versatile precise and efficient fabrication methods that can be used to process a variety
of materials and could be implemented to form tiny devices on a variety of surfaces without influencing their
structural quality. We present the latest results obtained using laser lithography approach: 3D polymeric
structures with submicrometer spatial resolution on different opaque surfaces such as semiconductors (Si) and
various metals (Cr, Al, Fe, Ti). The photostructuring was performed using a range of photosensitive materials
such as acrylate based AKRE23, acrylated biodegradable PEG-DA-258, epoxy based mr-NIL 6000, hybrid
organic-inorganic SZ2080 and Ormocore b59.
We report on the fabrication of the minimized conventional microoptical components out of the hybrid organic-
inorganic SZ2080 and SG4060 photoresins using laser direct writing technique. An ascending laser focus multiscan
approach is introduced as a method for the structuring of 2D nanolines. The diameters and heights of the
nanolines are comparable to the ones written with the electron beam lithography. Using our proposed laser
direct writing approach one can write 3D microstructures with the 2D nanofeatures in a single step procedure.
As demonstration of this technology, microlenses with 1D, 2D and circular transmission gratings were fabricated.
Additionally, for the rst time, ISO certied laser-induced damage testing was applied to determine the optical
breakdown threshold of the SZ2080 photoresin used for the laser direct writing.
M. Malinauskas, V. Purlys, A. Žukauskas, G. Bickauskaite, T. Gertus, P. Danilevicius, D. Paipulas, M. Rutkauskas, H. Gilbergs, D. Baltriukiene, L. Bukelskis, R. Širmenis, V. Bukelskiene, R. Gadonas, V. Sirvydis, A. Piskarskas
A tightly focused ultrafast pulsed laser beam is guided into the volume of the photosensitive material and induces nonlinear
photomodification. By translating the sample, the position of the focus is changed relatively, thus point-by-point
complex 3D structures can be written inside the bulk. In this report, we present a Laser Two-Photon Polymerization
(LTPP) setup for three-dimensional micro/nanostructuring for applications in photonics, microoptics, micromechanics,
microfluidics and biomedicine. This system enables fabrication of functional devices over a large area (up to several cm
in lateral size) with reproducible sub-micrometer resolution (up to 200 nm). In our experiments a Yb:KGW active media
laser oscillator (75 fs, 200 kW, 515 nm frequency doubled, 80 MHz) was used as an irradiation source. The sample was
mounted on XYZ wide range linear motor driven positioning stages having 10 nm positioning resolution. These stages
enable an overall travelling range of 100 mm into X and Y directions and 50 mm in Z direction and support a linear
scanning speed of up to 300 mm/s. Control of all the equipment was automated via custom made computer software
"3D-Poli" specially designed for LTPP applications. The model of the structure can be imported as CAD file, this
enables rapid and flexible structuring out of various photopolymers like ORMOCERs, ORMOSILs, acrylates and PEGDAs
which are commonly used in conventional UV mask, nanoimprint and μ-stereolithographies. In this paper, we
demonstrate polymeric microstructures fabricated over a large area on glass, plastic and metal substrates. This opens a
way to produce functional devices like photonic crystals, microlenses, micromechanic and microfluidic components and
artificial scaffolds as templates for cell growth. Additionally, results of primary myogenic stem cells expanding on
microfabricated polymeric scaffolds are provided. Cell proliferation tests show the material and structure to be
biocompatible for the biomedical practice.
Femtosecond laser photo-polymerization of zirconium-silicon based sol-gel photopolymer SZ2080 is used to fabricate
micro-optical elements with a single and hybrid optical functions. We demonstrate photo-polymerization of
the solid immersion and Fresnel lenses. Gratings can be added onto the surface of lenses. The effective refractive
index of polymerized structures can be controlled via the volume fraction of polymer. We used woodpile structure
with volume fraction of 0.65-0.8. Tailoring of dispersion properties of micro-optical elements by changing
filling ratio of polymer are discussed. Direct write approach is used to form such structures on a cover glass
and on the tip of an optical fiber. Close matching of refractive indices between the polymer and substrate in
visible and near infra red spectral regions (nSZ2080 = 1.504, nglass = 1.52) is favorable for such integration. The surface roughness of laser-polymerized resits was ~30 nm (min-max value), which is acceptable for optical applications in the visible range. For the bulk micro-optical elements the efficiency of 3D laser polymerization
is increased by a factor ~ (2 - 4) × 102 times (depends on the design) by the shell-formation polymerization:
(i) contour scanning for definition of shell-surface, (ii) development for removal of nonfunctional resist, and (iii) UV exposure for the final volumetric polymerization of an enclosed volume.
Light initiated liquid polymer quasi-instant solidification is attractive for its ultra precise spatial and temporal control of
the reaction. Here we present femtosecond laser induced two-photon photopolymerization for structuring of microoptical
and sample photonic devices. Due to nonlinear phenomena the fabrication resolution is not restricted to
diffraction limit for the applied laser excitation wavelength but determined by the exposure dose. Furthermore, pinpoint
structuring enables one to produce 3D structures of any form out of photopolymer. The smallest structural elements
voxels of 200 nm lateral dimensions can be achieved reproducibly by using high numerical aperture optics. Axial
resolution which is fundamentally few times worse than lateral can be controlled in few hundred nanometers precision
by forming polymeric pad as an additional structure. In our work we applied commercially available and widely used
hybrid zirconium-silicon based hybrid sol-gel material ORMOSIL (SZ2080) and an acrylate based AKRE37
photopolymer. Arrays of custom parameters spherical microlenses for microscopy applications have been fabricated.
Their surface roughness, focal distance and imaging quality were tested. 3D custom form woodpile structures with
submicron period and chain-mail structure were made as a sample photonic bandgap structures. Finally, we show some
structures produced out of fluorescent dyes rhodamine 6G doped photopolymer.
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