Speaker: Mangirdas Malinauskas (VULRC, Lithuania)

3D micro-/nano-structures enables miniaturization and enhancement of functionalities and integrations of devices for the fields of photonics, microfluidics, micromechanics, microelectronics, and microoptics.

Multi-photon lithography (also widely known as two-photon polymerization) as a laser direct writing technique offers flexibility to produce 3D structures for rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing purposes. Recent developments of this ultrafast laser technique supported with the advances in material sciences allows 3D printing of inorganic structures routinely via combination of maskless photopolymerization and thermal post-treatment (pyrolysis or calcination).

The current achievements are very promising for technical applications where highly resilient structures (made out inertial materials for extended durability) are required, such as harsh environments, high intensity optics, and open space. In this talk the physical and chemical principles for 3D nano-structuring of inorganics employing laser lithography, hybrid and composite materials as well as post-treatment are covered. The most recent advances are overviewed and the major achievements are highlighted, among them are: sub-100 nm feature fabrication, crystalline nanostructures, resilient, high refractive index and transparent materials. Advances and limitations within the context of the emerging trends and potential immediate applications are discussed in details.