The high-throughput and precise control of matter is key for the upcoming technological revolution
Lasers enable the direct deposition of controlled amounts of materials at predefined positions on a substrate. This represents a new fabrication method, called laser additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing, featuring unprecedented flexibility in terms of design and functionality of the obtained structures. Laser AM can be used in a myriad of applications, including the growing field of micro-optical components.
We develop new fabrication platforms for producing functional structures at ease, high resolution and high throughput.
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Research highlights
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Laser catapulting
Laser catapulting is a single-shot laser AM method that enables the rapid fabrication of microlenses with various geometries including circular, triangular, and rectangular. It is based on a two-step process: 1- disks are “catapulted” from a thin film of a positive photoresist to a receiving substrate; 2- a thermal reflow process converts the disks into microlenses. With this method, microlens arrays with an 100% fill factor have been fabricated.
![](https://www.ub.edu/dlight/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/am-2016-05385h_0004.gif)
Laser-induced forward transfer
LIFT is a laser AM technique that uses lasers to transfer material from a thin film onto a substrate. An air gap between film and substrate prevents potential contamination of the latter. Notably, since LIFT does not require a nozzle as other printing technique do (inkjet printing or fused deposition modeling), it can print a wide variety of materials ranging form liquids to metals.
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Overcoming the limits of traditional laser fabrication systems
We develop different strategies to overcome the current limits of laser processing regarding spatial resolution and throughput. They include: 1- using engineered materials that can be reconfigured upon exposure to an external stimulus; 2- exploiting the spontaneous formation of droplet lenses on top of a surface.