Two-Photon Laser Writing of Soft Responsive Polymers via Temperature-Controlled Polymerization

Year: 2021

Authors: De Bellis I.; Nocentini S.; Delli Santi M.G.; Martella D.; Parmeggiani C.; Zanotto S.; Wiersma D.S.

Autors Affiliation: Univ Florence, European Lab Nonlinear Spect LENS, Via Nello Carrara 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Ist Nazl Ric Metrol INRiM, Str Cacce 91, I-10135 Turin, Italy; CNR INO, Via Nello Carrara 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Univ Florence, Dept Chem Ugo Schiff, Via Lastruccia 3-13, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; CNR, Ist Nanosci, Piazza S Silvestro 12, I-56127 Pisa, Italy; NEST Scuola Normale Super, Piazza S Silvestro 12, I-56127 Pisa, Italy; Univ Florence, Dept Phys & Astron, Via Sansone 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.

Abstract: Enhancing the resolution of 3D patterning techniques in functional soft polymers enlarges the application areas of responsive shape-changing materials, for tunable nanophotonics and nanorobotics. Thanks to the recent advances of polymer science, the palette of available materials for nanomanufacturing is becoming wider and wider–although the comprehension of their polymerization process by two-photon polymerization is still incomplete. In this work, both shrinking of the minimal polymerizable unit and a significant improvement of the mechanical stability of microstructured soft polymers, in particular of liquid crystalline networks, are demonstrated. To this aim, temperature control enhances the resolution and reduces the swelling of the polymerized structures, thus avoiding deviations of the final structure from the intended design. This fine control on the nanoscale features enables the use of soft responsive materials not only for bulky microelements, but also for high-resolution structures with more complex design.

Journal/Review: LASER & PHOTONICS REVIEWS

Volume: 15 (8)      Pages from: 2100090-1  to: 2100090-8

More Information: I.D.B. and S.N. contributed equally to this work. The research leading to these results received funding from Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze (2020/1583, 2018/1047), Fondo di Beneficenza Intesa San Paolo 2019 to the project “Multifunctional Optofluidic Devices for the Early Stage Diagnosis of Alzheimer´s Disease through the Molecular Screening of Cerebrospinal Fluid-DOPTOSCREEN” (B/2019/0289), and Fondo premiale FOE to the project “Volume Photography: Measuring Three Dimensional Light Distributions without Opening the Box” (E17G17000300001).
KeyWords: direct laser lithographyhy; drogel; liquid crystalline networks; soft responsive polymers; temperature dependence
DOI: 10.1002/lpor.202100090

Citations: 11
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