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The 3D nanoprinting technique is precise enough to print metamaterials, which have different properties to their component materials, as well as optical devices and components such as microlenses and micro-optical devices, according to the researchers from Zhejiang Lab and Zhejiang University in China.
“Our system uses a two-step absorption process to realise 3D printing with accuracy reaching the nanometre level, which is suitable for commercial manufacturing,” said research team leader Cuifang Kuang.
“It can be used for a variety of applications such as printing micro- or nanostructures for studying biological cells, or fabricating the specialised optical waveguides used for virtual and augmented reality devices.”
Conventional high-resolution 3D nanoprinting approaches use pulsed femtosecond lasers that cost tens of thousands of dollars, the researchers said. The new system is based on an integrated fibre-coupled continuous-wave laser diode, which the team said is not only inexpensive but also easy to operate.
“This new approach helps make 3D nanoprinting accessible to scientists, even ones who are not familiar with the optical systems typically used for this type of fabrication,” said Kuang. “It could eventually lead to low-cost desktop 3D nanoprinting devices that could offer precision nanoprinting to anyone.”
He added: “The simple system does not need a large number of optical components to modulate the laser beam, which saves money and produces less optical aberrations, or errors. It is also highly stable and compatible with most commercial microscopes.”
The researchers demonstrated their 3D nanoprinting system by using it at low speeds to print 2D line gratings and 3D woodpile nanostructures with a lateral period of 350 nm. Using a faster scan speed of 1,000 microns per second, 2D gratings with sub-200nm resolution and sub-50nm linewidth could still be fabricated with laser power less than 1mW.
The team is now working to improve the writing speed and quality of the technique, while maintaining high resolution.
The work was published in Optics Letters.
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