Rapid prototyping of 3D microstructures by direct scanning laser writing

Abstract

Laser processing is widely used since it not only makes manufacturing cheaper, faster, cleaner, and more accurate but also opens up entirely new technologies and manufacturing methods that are simply not available using standard techniques. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of a beam-scanning laser system for direct writing 3-D microstructures in a negative photosensitive polymer (SU-8). Furthermore, with the aid of an auxiliary laser alignment setup, this technology could be readily extended to the flexible fabrication of 3-D multilayer microstructures, which promise to be of great importance for the coming biotechnology revolution.