Three-Dimensional Optical Imaging of Internal Deformations in Polymeric Microscale Mechanical Metamaterials

Recent advances in two-photon polymerization fabrication processes are paving the way to creating macroscopic metamaterials with microscale architectures, which exhibit mechanical properties superior to their bulk material counterparts. These metamaterials typically feature lightweight, complex patterns such as lattice or minimal surface structures. Conventional tools for investigating these microscale structures, such as scanning electron microscopy, cannot easily probe the internal features of these structures, which are critical for a comprehensive assessment of their mechanical behavior. In turn, we demonstrate an optical confocal microscopy-based approach that allows for high-resolution optical imaging of internal deformations and fracture processes in microscale metamaterials under mechanical load. We validate this technique by investigating an exemplary metamaterial lattice structure of 80 × 80 × 80 μm³ in size. This technique can be extended to other metamaterial systems and holds significant promise to enhance our understanding of their real-world performance under loading conditions.