Near infrared photopolymer for micro‐optics applications

Abstract

Near infrared (NIR) activable photopolymers suitable for versatile fabrication of microoptical elements were developed. The first main objective of this paper is to show that these new photopolymers can be used for microfabrication and investigate the parameters governing the microfabrication process. The impact of photonic, physico-chemical and chemical parameters is discussed. High quality microstructures with a good control over their size and shape are demonstrated. The second main objective is to show practical examples of microlenses and waveguides implemented on single core and multiple core optical fibers, VCSELs, and glass slides are then presented. The NIR photosensitivity of this negative tone photoresists allows using the device source itself as to start the crosslinking process, which constitutes a convenient approach for micro-optics self-positioning on NIR sources and justifies the interest of such NIR photopolymer for the fabrication micro-optical elements and optical interconnects.

Thionolactone as Resin Additive to Prepare (bio)degradable 3D Objects via VAT Photopolymerization

“…PETIA monomer is a reference monomer in microstructuring applications, 2D and 3D. [28][29][30] It is shown in the following that the addition of DOT does not degrade the resolution and the possibility to use it for 2D and 3D stereolithography applications, at the micro and macroscopic scale. In a first approach, a laser microstructuring configuration is used to demonstrate the ability of the material to be used for laser-induced 3D microfabrication.…”

“…The experimental procedure is described schematically in Figure 3.a. Further experimental details can be found in SI and reference [28] . Briefly, an optical fiber is cleaved and the resin is deposited at the cleaved end of the fiber.…”

“…Nevertheless, Young modulus, tensile strength and elongation values remain in the same order of magnitude, meaning that DOT can be added up to 2 wt% without changing too significantly the mechanical properties of the polymerized material. PETIA monomer is a reference monomer in microstructuring applications, 2D and 3D [28][29][30]. It is shown in the following that the addition of DOT does not degrade the resolution and the possibility to use it for 2D and 3D stereolithography applications, at the micro and macroscopic scale.…”

Polymer Microtip on a Multimode Optical Fiber as a Threshold Volatile Organic Compounds Sensor

“…The reliability of this process made it the only one acceptable and used so far [ 21 ]. However, the photopolymerization process was implemented to make a 3D polymer micro-optical element (microtip) on the end face of the fiber as an extension of its core [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Previous studies have shown the possibility to fabricate the microtips on various optical fibers (i.e., SMFs [ 22 , 23 , 25 , 26 ], photonic crystal [ 24 ] and multi-mode fiber (MMF) made with silica [ 27 ] and plastic [ 25 ]).…”

“…However, the photopolymerization process was implemented to make a 3D polymer micro-optical element (microtip) on the end face of the fiber as an extension of its core [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Previous studies have shown the possibility to fabricate the microtips on various optical fibers (i.e., SMFs [ 22 , 23 , 25 , 26 ], photonic crystal [ 24 ] and multi-mode fiber (MMF) made with silica [ 27 ] and plastic [ 25 ]). The most important applications of such micro-optical element are in scanning optical microscopes (SOM) [ 28 ], optical fibers interconnections [ 29 , 30 , 31 ], optical fiber couplers/splitters [ 32 ], VCESEL illumination profile controllers [ 33 ], and sensors [ 34 , 35 , 36 ].…”