Femtosecond laser assisted 3-dimensional freeform fabrication of metal microstructures in fused silica

Femtosecond laser exposure of fused silica combined with chemical etching has opened up new opportunities for three-dimensional freeform processing of micro-structures that can form complex micro-devices of silica, integrating optical, mechanical and/or fluidic functionalities. Here, we demontrate an expansion of this process with an additional fabrication step that enables the integration of three-dimensional embedded metallic structures out of useful engineering metals such as silver, gold, copper as well as some of their alloys. This additional step is an adaptation of the pressure infiltration for the insertion of high conductivity, high melting point metals and alloys into topologically complex, femtosecond laser-machined cavities in fused silica. This produces truly 3-dimensional microstructures, including microcoils and needles, within the bulk of glass substrates. Combining this added capability with the existing possibilities of femtosecond laser micromachining (i.e. direct written waveguides, microchannels, resonators, etc.) opens up a host of potential applications for the contactless fabrication of highly integrated monolithic devices that include conductive element of all kind. We present preliminary results from this new fabrication process, including prototype devices that incorporate 3D electrodes with aspect ratios of 1:100 and a feature size resolution down to 2 um. We demonstrate the generation of high electric field gradients (of the order of 1013 Vm-2) in these devices due to the 3-dimensional topology of fabricated microstructures

Light-Based Printing of Leachable Salt Molds for Facile Shaping of Complex Structures

3D printing is a powerful manufacturing technology for shaping materials into complex structures. While the palette of printable materials continues to expand, the rheological and chemical requisites for printing are not always easy to fulfill. Here, a universal manufacturing platform is reported for shaping materials into intricate geometries without the need for their printability, but instead using light-based printed salt structures as leachable molds. The salt structures are printed using photocurable resins loaded with NaCl particles. The printing, debinding, and sintering steps involved in the process are systematically investigated to identify ink formulations enabling the preparation of crack-free salt templates. The experiments reveal that the formation of a load-bearing network of salt particles is essential to prevent cracking of the mold during the process. By infiltrating the sintered salt molds and leaching the template in water, complex-shaped architectures are created from diverse compositions such as biomedical silicone, chocolate, light metals, degradable elastomers, and fiber composites, thus demonstrating the universal, cost-effective, and sustainable nature of this new manufacturing platform.Aerospace Manufacturing Technologie