Two-Photon Polymerization (2PP) has recently gained a lot of interest as Additive Manufacturing Technology capable of fabricating complex three-dimensional submicron structures using a fs-pulsed NIR laser.

With this methode a feature resolution down to approx. 100 nm is achievable which is about one order of magnitude better than other methods such as µ-stereolithography. Furthermore, due to the nonlinear absorption process it is possible to directly write inside a given volume (“real” 3D writing), since the polymerization only takes place inside the focus of the laser beam.
Therefore, complex 3D-structures can be inscribed into a suitable matrix material and/or a resin (e.g. acrylate based) which is selectively cured.

These advantages perfectly fulfill the demands for various future applications requiring three dimensional (3D) structures with resolutions in the (sub)micrometer range, such as different mechanical, electronic and optical micro devices, polymer-based optical waveguides on integrated circuit boards or bio-inspired architectures.