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Multi-beam two-photon polymerization for fast large area 3D periodic structure fabrication for bioapplications
Christian Maibohm1, Oscar F Silvestre1,2, Jérôme Borme3
1Ultrafast Bio- and Nanophotonics group, INL - International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Braga, Portugal.
Scientific Reports
|May 28, 2020
Summary
This study introduces a faster method for 3D microfabrication using parallelized laser writing, significantly reducing production time for complex microstructures. These structures enhance cell proliferation and alter cell shape in initial biological interaction studies.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Biotechnology
- Microfabrication
Background:
- Two-photon polymerization (TPP) is a direct laser writing (DLW) technique for fabricating 3D microstructures.
- The fabrication time of TPP scales cubically with structure size, limiting large-volume applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a scalable and time-efficient method for fabricating large 3D microstructured arrays.
- To investigate the interaction of living cells with these novel 3D microstructures.
Main Methods:
- A parallelized 9 multi-beamlets DLW process utilizing a diffraction optical element (DOE).
- Stitching techniques for fabricating large periodic arrays with sub-micron features.
- Fabrication of self-supporting wall structures using a low numerical aperture objective.
Main Results:
- Reduced fabrication time for large-area 3D microstructured arrays.
- Observed increased proliferation of HeLa cells on 3D microstructures compared to planar surfaces.
- Cells exhibited an elongated morphology when interacting with the 3D microstructures.
Conclusions:
- The developed method enables rapid, large-volume fabrication of high aspect ratio 3D microstructures.
- The 3D microstructures show potential for cell interaction studies, including cell migration and tissue engineering.
- These findings highlight the utility of TPP-fabricated microstructures in biological applications.
