Feb 24, 2015
KNOWN FOR ITS HIGH PRECISION WITH TYPICAL LAYER THICKNESSES IN THE RANGE OF 50 TO 150 ΜM, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY IS THE PROCESS BY WHICH A VAT OF LIQUID ULTRAVIOLET (UV)-LIGHT-CURABLE PHOTOPOLYMER IS POLYMERIZED BY A UV LASER IN A LAYER-BY-LAYER FASHION. BUT WHEN STEREOLITHOGRAPHY—ALSO CALLED VAT PHOTOPOLYMERIZATION—REACHES ITS LIMITATION WITH RESPECT TO RESOLUTION, 3D MULTIPHOTON LITHOGRAPHY CAN BE USED TO FABRICATE OBJECTS WITH HEIGHTS UP TO SEVERAL MILLIMETERS AND LAYER THICKNESSES WELL BELOW 1 ΜM.
When common additive manufacturing (3D printing) technologies like stereolithography reach their limitations in resolution, 3D laser lithography achieves its full potential in the fabrication of high-resolution 3D polymer objects.