Customized Mix of Materials for 3D Micro- and Nanostructures
February 14, 2019 | KITEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
Three-dimensional structures on the micrometer and nanometer scales have a great potential for many applications. An efficient and precise process to print such structures from different materials is now presented by researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Carl Zeiss AG in Science Advances: they integrated a microfluidic chamber into a 3D laser lithography device. Then, they used this system to produce multi-colored, fluorescent security features to protect banknotes, documents, and branded products against counterfeiting.
Image Caption: Multi-colored fluorescent security feature in computer design (left) and its layers under the laser scanning microscope (right). (Figure: Frederik Mayer, INT/KIT)
From components for data processing with light to optical microlenses, mechanical metamaterials, or artificial scaffolds for cell cultures to security features of banknotes or branded products, printed three-dimensional micro- and nanostructures have a large range of applications. 3D laser lithography has become an established, reliable, and versatile process for their production. A laser beam is passed through a liquid photoresist in a computer-controlled way and the material is exposed and hardened at the focal point of the laser beam only. This gives rise to highly precise filigree structures for many applications, including optics and photonics, materials sciences, biotechnology or security technology. Nearly all of the micro- and nanostructures produced by 3D laser lithography so far consist of a single material. But they might also be manufactured from several materials by successive application and hardening of different photoresists, with the unexposed resist being washed out in a subsequent developing bath. Such a process, however, is very time-consuming and complicated and its precision decreases with an increasing number of materials and repetitions.
Within the Cluster of Excellence “3D Matter Made to Order,” scientists of KIT’s Institutes of Nanotechnology (INT), of Applied Physics (APH), for Chemical Technology and Polymer Chemistry (ITCP), and of the School of Chemistry of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane/Australia, together with researchers of Carl Zeiss AG, have now developed a new system for the efficient and precise production of printed micro- and nanostructures from several materials. They integrated a microfluidic chamber for the fluids on smallest space directly into a 3D laser lithography device.
In their publication “Multimaterial 3D Laser Microprinting Using an Integrated Microfluidic System” in Science Advances, the researchers report that they used the integrated system to produce three-dimensional microstructured security features from seven different fluids: a non-fluorescent photoresist as backbone, two photoresists with different fluorescent quantum points, two photoresists with different fluorescent dyes, and two developer fluids. Such security features may protect banknotes, documents, and branded products against counterfeiting. A security feature consists of a three-dimensional lattice enclosed by retaining walls and fluorescent markers in different colors.
For their system, the scientists used a 3D laser lithography device developed and commercialized by Nanoscribe GmbH, a spinoff of KIT, and integrated it into a self-developed microfluidic chamber. It is provided with a cover glass of ten millimeters in diameter onto which the 3D structures can be printed. The chamber is connected to an electronic pressure control, up to ten containers for the different photoresists and developers, and a star-shaped selection valve. The fluid selected is passed to a specimen holder via an overpressure valve. Finally, it flows into a waste container. “All steps for producing three-dimensional micro- and nanostructures from several materials can be integrated into one system,” says Professor Martin Wegener, who heads the working group at APH. “This system paves the way towards multi-material additive manufacture on the micro- and nanoscale.”
Suggested Items
Lockheed Martin Australia, The Department Of Defence Sign Strategic Partnership Head Contract
04/26/2024 | Lockheed MartinLockheed Martin Australia signed a landmark AUD$500 million contract with the Department of Defence to build Australia’s future Joint Air Battle Management System under project - AIR6500 Phase 1 (AIR6500-1).
Cadence, TSMC Collaborate on Wide-Ranging Innovations to Transform System and Semiconductor Design
04/25/2024 | Cadence Design SystemsCadence Design Systems, Inc. and TSMC have extended their longstanding collaboration by announcing a broad range of innovative technology advancements to accelerate design, including developments ranging from 3D-IC and advanced process nodes to design IP and photonics.
Siemens’ Breakthrough Veloce CS Transforms Emulation and Prototyping with Three Novel Products
04/24/2024 | Siemens Digital Industries SoftwareSiemens Digital Industries Software launched the Veloce™ CS hardware-assisted verification and validation system. In a first for the EDA (Electronic Design Automation) industry, Veloce CS incorporates hardware emulation, enterprise prototyping and software prototyping and is built on two highly advanced integrated circuits (ICs) – Siemens’ new, purpose-built Crystal accelerator chip for emulation and the AMD Versal™ Premium VP1902 FPGA adaptive SoC (System-on-a-chip) for enterprise and software prototyping.
Taiyo Circuit Automation Installs New DP3500 into Fuba Printed Circuits, Tunisia
04/25/2024 | Taiyo Circuit AutomationTaiyo Circuit Automation is proud to be partnered with Fuba Printed Circuits, Tunisia part of the OneTech Group of companies, a leading printed circuit board manufacturer based out of Bizerte, Tunisia, on their first installation of Taiyo Circuit Automation DP3500 coater.
Vicor Power Orders Hentec Industries/RPS Automation Pulsar Solderability Testing System
04/24/2024 | Hentec Industries/RPS AutomationHentec Industries/RPS Automation, a leading manufacturer of selective soldering, lead tinning and solderability test equipment, is pleased to announce that Vicor Power has finalized the purchase of a Pulsar solderability testing system.