Fabrication of micro-tube arrays in photopolymer SZ2080 by using three different methods of a direct laser polymerization technique

Abstract

In this paper we demonstrate femtosecond laser fabrication of micro-tubes with a height of several tens of micrometers in the photopolymer SZ2080 by three different methods: direct laser writing, using the optical vortex beam and holographic lithography. The flexibility of direct laser writing and dramatic increase of production efficiency by applying the vortex-shaped beam and four-beam interference approaches are presented. Sample arrays of micro-tubes were successfully manufactured applying all three methods and the fabrication quality as well as efficiency of the methods is compared. The processing time of a single micro-tube with 60 µm height and 3 µm inner radius is reduced 400 times for the holographic lithography technique and 500 times for the optical vortex method compared with the direct laser writing technique. The processing time of a micro-tube array containing 400 micro-tubes is the shortest for the holographic lithography method but not for the optical vortex method as in the case of a single micro-tube, because the holographic lithography method does not require time for sample translation. Additionally, the holographic lithography enables manufacturing of the whole micro-tube array by a single exposure. Although point-by-point photo-structuring ensures unmatched complexity of manufactured microstructures, employing nowadays high repetition rate amplified femtosecond lasers combined with beam shaping or several beam interference can envisage industrial applications for practical demands.