Rapid Water-Soluble Sacrificial Scaffolds for Unconstrained 3D Microfabrication via Two-Photon Lithography

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Microfabrication
• Optics

Background:

• Two-photon lithography (TPL) offers high resolution for microarchitectures but is limited by support removal for arbitrary 3D geometries.
• Existing methods struggle with effective microscale support removal, hindering complex 3D fabrication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a universal sacrificial-support-assisted TPL approach using a novel water-soluble photoresist.
• To overcome limitations in 3D microfabrication by enabling unconstrained geometry realization.

Main Methods:

• Developed a novel water-soluble (W-S) photoresist for TPL.
• Integrated high printing resolution with rapid dissolution capabilities (under 10 minutes in mild aqueous media).
• Demonstrated fabrication of complex microstructures like cantilevers and lenses using sacrificial supports.

Main Results:

• The W-S photoresist achieved rapid dissolution (under 10 min) in mild aqueous media, significantly faster than existing dissolvable resists.
• Achieved high geometric fidelity and surface smoothness in fabricated microstructures after support removal.
• Demonstrated successful fabrication of previously inaccessible 3D microarchitectures, including micro-biconvex lenses and single-clamped cantilevers.

Conclusions:

• Introduced a rapidly dissolvable photoresist enabling unconstrained 3D microfabrication via TPL.
• Established a versatile materials-enabled strategy for constructing complex microarchitectures.
• Opened new opportunities in micro-optics, photonics, and bio-integrated systems through advanced 3D microfabrication.