Multiphoton lithography using a high-repetition rate microchip laser.
Multiphoton lithography (MPL) provides a means to create prototype, three-dimensional (3D) materials for numerous applications in analysis and cell biology. A major impediment to the broad adoption of MPL in research laboratories is its reliance on high peak-power light sources, a requirement that typically has been met using expensive femtosecond titanium:sapphire lasers. Development of affordable microchip laser sources has the potential to substantially extend the reach of MPL, but previous lasers have provided relatively low pulse repetition rates (low kilohertz range), thereby limiting the rate at which microforms could be produced using this direct-write approach. In this report, we examine the MPL capabilities of a new, high-repetition-rate (36.6 kHz) microchip Nd:YAG laser. We show that this laser enables an approximate 4-fold decrease in fabrication times for protein-based microforms relative to the existing state-of-the-art microchip source and demonstrate its utility for creating complex 3D microarchitectures.
Ritschdorff
Eric T
ET
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and The Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station A5300, Austin, Texas 78712, USA.
Shear
Jason B
JB
D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D046208:Microchip Analytical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D017785:Photons