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Two-photon absorption under few-photon irradiation for optical nanoprinting
Zi-Xin Liang1, Yuan-Yuan Zhao2, Jing-Tao Chen1
1Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Fiber Sensing and Communications, Institute of Photonics Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Nature Communications
|February 28, 2025
Summary
Few-photon irradiated two-photon absorption (TPA) enables high-resolution 3D nanoprinting. This novel approach significantly enhances printing efficiency and resolution for advanced nanoimaging and fabrication applications.
Area of Science:
- Optics and Photonics
- Materials Science and Nanotechnology
Background:
- Two-photon absorption (TPA) is crucial for 3D imaging and nanoprinting.
- Current TPA techniques face efficiency and resolution limitations with laser scanning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce and model few-photon irradiated TPA for enhanced nanolithography.
- To investigate the mechanism of TPA under ultralow photon irradiance.
Main Methods:
- Developed a spatiotemporal model based on wave-particle duality.
- Utilized digital optical projection nanolithography with in-situ multiple exposure.
- Employed ultralow photon irradiance from a single femtosecond laser pulse.
Main Results:
- Achieved feature sizes of 26 nm (1/20 λ) and pattern periods of 0.41 λ at 517 nm wavelength.
- Demonstrated a 5-order-of-magnitude improvement in printing efficiency.
- Provided insights into the time-dependent TPA mechanism.
Conclusions:
- Few-photon irradiated TPA offers a pathway to overcome TPA efficiency-resolution trade-offs.
- This method enables high-precision nanoprinting and opens avenues for advanced nanoimaging.
