Fabrication of Glass‐Ceramic 3D Micro‐Optics by Combining Laser Lithography and Calcination

Abstract

This perspective is an overview of a recent direction in optical 3D printing, where polymerization of crosslinkable materials and nanomaterial fillers can be guided to the final structures and new composites via high temperature annealing (HTA). Defining 3D nano/micro‐structures by ultrafast laser direct writing and tailoring their precursor composition with subsequent tunability of the final properties during 750–1500 °C HTA step takes place at the large surface‐to‐volume ratio conditions favoring efficient pyrolysis and calcination, which are required for exchange of chemical materials/gases between glass/ceramic phase and surrounding. Previously, unexplored inorganic material formation conditions in terms of fast thermal quenching, composition mixing and surface tension guided formation can be harnessed by glass making for creation of new materials endowed with preferable technical properties. An immediate application perspective for a high durability, integrated, and active 3D micro‐optics is foreseen.

3D‐Architected Alkaline‐Earth Perovskites

“…[72,73] Although BZO, CZO, and SZO reveal optically the presence of oxygen deficiencies, the optical response is attributed to local inhomogeneities in our alkaline-perovskite microarchitectures, we can expect that longer annealing times to reduce background emissions from defects for the production of refractive index ceramics in micro-optics. [8,28] Our group has observed similar findings for low-temperature annealing (≈600 °C) of denser ZrO 2 ceramics, [24] which could have caused the buried of carbon or non-stochiometric components, [42] as could be the case for nonstoichiometric BZO, CZO, and SZO species.…”

“…Perovskites are typically composed of alkali, alkali earth, or rare-earth devices, and photonic crystals, in which high-refractive index materials are much desired. [8] Among the alkaline-earth zirconates, SrZrO 3 has high dielectric permittivity and low microwave loss relevant for communication in small dielectric resonator antennas. [9] Other applications of SrZrO 3 include, for example, next-generation nonvolatile memory.…”

“…From these examples, the alkaline-earth zirconates application range has gradually expanded and is expected to grow due to the demand for 3D ceramic microsystems. [8] A commonwealth in SrZrO 3 , BaZrO 3 , and CaZrO 3 is the need for spatial organization, where cellular components of the specific composition are assembled and tailored to control chemical reaction performance or light-matter interaction. From this perspective, chemical technology is an important field where 3D architectures, like alkaline-earth zirconates, can also contribute.…”

Two-photon polymerization lithography for imaging optics

“…Consequently, precompensation is essential before initiating the fabrication process. The quest for resins boasting excellent optical quality, mechanical resilience, minimal shrinkage, ease of processing, and scalable size dimensions remains a formidable challenge [28,220,221]. Moreover, the development of photoresists that polymerize under continuous laser exposure holds great promise in expediting the fabrication process [222,223] and fostering innovation in fabrication methods, such as two-color, twostep, absorption-based, light-sheet 3D microprinting [224].…”

Additive Manufacturing of Transparent Multi‐Component Nanoporous Glasses

“…Till now, the printing glass systems are mainly limited to silica glass systems, [6,19,22,23] and dense non-porous glasses. [9][10][11][12][13][14] Therefore, broadening the glass types and compositional design space with high printing resolution is key in advancing the 3D printing glass technologies.…”