OPTICAL PRODUCT
High-precision grayscale lithography
HIGH-PRECISION GRAYSCALE LITHOGRAPHY FOR MICRO-OPTICS
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Sofía RODRÍGUEZ Nanoscribe GmbH & Co. KG, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany * rodriguez @ nanoscribe. com
https:// doi. org / 10.1051 / photon / 202513476
Micro-optics are key components in a wide range of applications, including advanced imaging, sensing, and display systems. These applications require optical elements that combine a minimal form factor with outstanding optical performance. Two-Photon Grayscale Lithography, based on Two-Photon Polymerization, enables additive manufacturing of 2.5D microoptics with submicron resolution, high shape accuracy and broad design flexibility, making it a powerful technology for next-generation optical components.
Fast and versatile microfabrication technologies are driving the development of miniaturized optical elements that are essential to modern optical and photonic systems. Applications such as 3D sensing, display technologies, imaging systems, and AR / VR devices rely on optical components with increasingly smaller dimensions and ever-higher precision. As the trend toward miniaturization continues, the fabrication of microscopic optical structures presents growing challenges in nanoand microfabrication. Two-Photon Grayscale Lithography( 2GL ®) addresses these challenges by enabling the rapid and precise fabrication of 2.5D micro-optical elements with freeform geometries, submicron resolution, and ultra-smooth surfaces. Based on Two- Photon Polymerization( 2PP), 2GL combines the design freedom of additive manufacturing with the outstanding grayscale printing performance, known for its surface quality and shape accuracy required for advanced optics. The Quantum X litho system implements this approach in a maskless lithography platform optimized for optics manufacturing. It enables the fabrication of refractive( figure 1), diffractive, and hybrid micro-optics with a shape accuracy of S a ≤ 200 nm( ISO 25178) and surface roughness below R a < 5 nm. These characteristics make the system suitable for applications ranging from rapid prototyping and master template fabrication to wafer-level patterning for industrial manufacturing.
TWO-PHOTON POLYMERIZATION: PRINCIPLE AND APPLICATIONS Two-Photon Polymerization( 2PP) relies on the physical effect of two-photon absorption, where an atom or molecule absorbs two photons simultaneously to reach a higher energy state. Typically, this involves a photosensitive liquid resin that normally cures under UV light but is instead solidified by near-infrared( NIR) laser light when two photons are absorbed at once. This effect is confined to the laser’ s focal volume, where the light intensity is sufficiently high, enabling localized polymerization with submicron precision.
76 www. photoniques. com I Photoniques 134