Abstract

In high-precision two-photon microfabrication of three-dimensional (3-D) polymeric microstructures, supercritical CO₂ drying was employed to reduce surface tension, which tends to cause the collapse of micro/nano structures. Use of supercritical drying allowed high-aspect ratio microstructures, such as micropillars and cantilevers, to be fabricated. We also propose a single-anchor supporting method to eliminate non-uniform shrinkage of polymeric structures otherwise caused by attachment to the substrate. Use of this method permitted frame models such as lattices to be produced without harmful distortion. The combination of supercritical CO₂ drying and the single-anchor supporting method offers reliable high-precision microfabrication of sophisticated, fragile 3-D micro/nano structures.

© 2009 OSA

» View Full Text: Acrobat PDF (332 KB)

History
Original Manuscript: October 2, 2009
Manuscript Accepted: October 27, 2009
Revised Manuscript: October 26, 2009
Published: November 2, 2009

References

1. B. H. Cumpston, S. P. Ananthavel, S. Barlow, D. L. Dyer, J. E. Ehrlich, L. L. Erskine, A. A. Heikal, S. M. Kuebler, I. Y. S. Lee, D. McCord-Maughon, J. Q. Qin, H. Rockel, M. Rumi, X. L. Wu, S. R. Marder, and J. W. Perry, “Two-photon polymerization initiators for three-dimensional optical data storage and microfabrication,” Nature 398(6722), 51–54 (1999). [CrossRef]
2. R. A. Farrer, C. N. LaFratta, L. J. Li, J. Praino, M. J. Naughton, B. E. A. Saleh, M. C. Teich, and J. T. Fourkas, “Selective functionalization of 3-D polymer microstructures,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128(6), 1796–1797 (2006). [CrossRef]
3. A. Ishikawa, T. Tanaka, and S. Kawata, “Magnetic excitation of magnetic resonance in metamaterials at far-infrared frequencies,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 91(11), 113118 (2007). [CrossRef]
4. S. Maruo and H. Inoue, “Optically driven micropump produced by three-dimensional two-photon microfabrication,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 89(14), 144101 (2006). [CrossRef]
5. S. Maruo, A. Takaura, and Y. Saito, “Optically driven micropump with a twin spiral microrotor,” Opt. Express 17(21), 18525–18532 (2009). [CrossRef]
6. S. Kawata, H.-B. Sun, T. Tanaka, and K. Takada, “Finer features for functional microdevices,” Nature 412(6848), 697–698 (2001). [CrossRef]
7. S. Maruo and J. T. Fourkas, “Recent progress in multiphoton microfabrication,” Laser Photonics Rev. 2(1-2), 100–111 (2008). [CrossRef]
8. S.-H. Park, D.-Y. Yang, and K.-S. Lee, “Two-photon stereolithography for realizing ultraprecise three-dimensional nano/microdevices,” Laser Photonics Rev. 3(1-2), 1–11 (2009). [CrossRef]
9. S. Maruo, O. Nakamura, and S. Kawata, “Three-dimensional microfabrication with two-photon-absorbed photopolymerization,” Opt. Lett. 22(2), 132–134 (1997). [CrossRef]
10. W. Haske, V. W. Chen, J. M. Hales, W. T. Dong, S. Barlow, S. R. Marder, and J. W. Perry, “65 nm feature sizes using visible wavelength 3-D multiphoton lithography,” Opt. Express 15(6), 3426–3436 (2007). [CrossRef]
11. L. Li, R. R. Gattass, E. Gershgoren, H. Hwang, and J. T. Fourkas, “Achieving λ/20 resolution by one-color initiation and deactivation of polymerization,” Science 324(5929), 910–913 (2009). [CrossRef]
12. D. Tan, Y. Li, F. Qi, H. Yang, Q. Gong, X. Dong, and X. Duan, “Reduction in feature size of two-photon polymerization using SCR500,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 90(7), 071106 (2007). [CrossRef]
13. D.-Y. Yang, S. H. Park, T. W. Lim, H.-J. Kong, S. W. Yi, H. K. Yang, and K.-S. Lee, “Ultraprecise microreproduction of a three-dimensional artistic sculpture by multipath scanning method in two-photon photopolymerization,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 90(1), 013113 (2007). [CrossRef]
14. T. Hasegawa, and S. Maruo, “Two-photon microfabrication with a supercritical CO2 drying process toward replication of three-dimensional microstructures,” Proc. of Int. Symp. on Micro-nanomechatronics and Human Science (MHS) 2007, 12–15 (2007).
15. G. L. Weibel and C. K. Ober, “An overview of supercritical CO2 applications in microelectronics processing,” Microelectron. Eng. 65(1-2), 145–152 (2003). [CrossRef]
16. C.-J. Kim, J. Y. Kim, and B. Sridharan, “Comparative evaluation of drying techniques for surface micromachining,” Sens. Actuators A Phys. 64(1), 17–26 (1998). [CrossRef]
17. Y. Li, F. Qi, H. Yang, Q. Gong, X. Dong, and X. Duan, “Nonuniform shrinkage and stretching of polymerized nanostructures fabricated by two-photon photopolymerization,” Nanotechnology 19(5), 055303 (2008). [CrossRef]
18. H.-B. Sun, T. Suwa, K. Takada, R. P. Zaccaria, M.-S. Kim, K.-S. Lee, and S. Kawata, “Shape precompensation in two-photon laser nanowriting of photonic lattices,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 85(17), 3708–3710 (2004). [CrossRef]
19. A. Ovsianikov, S. Passinger, R. Houbertz, and B. N. Chichkov, in Laser ablation and its applications, C. Phipps, ed., (Springer Science + Business Media LLC, NY, 2007). Chap. 6, p.145–147.
20. T. W. Lim, Y. Son, S. Y. Yang, T. A. Pham, D. P. Kim, B. I. Yang, K. S. Lee, and S. H. Park, “Net shape manufacturing of three-dimensional SiCN ceramic microstructures using an isotropic shrinkage method by introducing shrinkage guiders,” Int. J. Appl. Ceram. Technol. 5(3), 258–264 (2008). [CrossRef]
21. A. Ovsianikov, X. Shizhou, M. Farsari, M. Vamvakaki, C. Fotakis, and B. N. Chichkov, “Shrinkage of microstructures produced by two-photon polymerization of Zr-based hybrid photosensitive materials,” Opt. Express 17(4), 2143–2148 (2009). [CrossRef]
22. S. Maruo, T. Hasegawa and N. Yoshimura “Replication of three-dimensional rotary micromechanism by membrane-assisted transfer molding,” Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 48, 06FH05 (2009).
23. S.-H. Park, J.-H. Jeong, D.-G. Choi, K.-D. Kim, A. O. Altun, E.-S. Lee, D.-Y. Yang, and K.-S. Lee, “Adaptive bonding technique for precise assembly of three-dimensional microstructures,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 90(23), 233109 (2007). [CrossRef]

Author Affiliations

Shoji Maruo, Takuya Hasegawa, Naoki Yoshimura

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Yokohama National University, 79-5 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501,Japan

Cited By

OSA is able to provide readers links to articles that cite this paper by participating in CrossRef's Cited-By Linking service. In addition to listing OSA journal articles that cite this paper, citing articles from other participating publishers will also be listed.

Advanced Search

Recent ToC Categories (Beta)

• Oct 08 2009 : See the latest ISP articles in the Applied Optics feature on Digital Holography in 3-D Imaging.
• Sep 25 2009 : Energy Express: Optics Express announces a special bi-monthly supplement dedicated to rapid developments in optics for sustainable energy.
• Sep 21 2009 : The 2009 Education and Training in Optics and Photonics papers are now available.

More News

• Invisibility Visualized
  Nov 12, 2009 - Scientists and curiosity seekers who want to know what a partially or... more
• Diamonds are a Laser's Best Friend
  Sep 18, 2009 - Tomorrow’s lasers may come with a bit of bling, thanks to a new... more
• Open Wide and Say ‘Zap’
  Aug 19, 2009 - A group of researchers in Australia and Taiwan has developed a new... more