Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2 3D Printer


Refer to the Material and Process Compatibility page for information on materials compatible with this tool.
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Overview

General Description

The Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2 uses Two-Photon Polymerization (2PP) to produce filigree structures of nearly any 3D shape by high-precision 3D printing: crystal lattices, porous scaffolds, naturally inspired patterns, smooth contours, sharp edges, undercuts and bridges are all manufacturable with high resolution. The printer is capable of printing in Mesoscale, and all the way down to Nanoscale, and is designed around work in Microfluidics, Micromechanics, Micro optics, Photonics and plasmonics, Biomedical applications, and Nanostructures. 

Specifications

Machine specifications:



Printing technologyLayer-by-layer Two-Photon Polymerization
Minimum XY feature size160 nm typical; 200 nm specified*
Finest XY resolution 400 nm typical; 500 nm specified*
Finest vertical resolution 1,000 nm typical; 1,500 nm specified*
Layer distanceVariable, 0.1 – 5.0 µm*
Maximum object height8 mm*
Build volume100 × 100 × 8 mm³ *
Minimum surface roughness Ra≤ 20 nm*
Max. scan speedFrom 100 to 625 mm/s*

*Values may vary depending on the Solution Set, objective or resin in use

Available resins:

2PP resinRefractive indexPhaseCharacteristicsRecommended ObjectiveRecommended substrate
IP-Dip1.521Liquidhigh resolution63xFused silica, Silicon, other substrates
IP-Dip21.526Liquidhigh resolution63xFused silica, Silicon, other substrates
IP-L1.485Liquidhigh resolution63xFused silica, Silicon, other substrates
IP-G1.495Gelhigh resolution; flying features63xBorosilicate, other substrates
IP-S1.486Liquidhigh smoothness; meso-scale25xITO-coated, Silicon, other substrates
IP-Q1.487Liquidmeso-scale10xSilicon
IP-Visio1.486Liquidlow fluorescence; non-cytotoxic25xITO-coated, Superfrost
IP-PDMS1.43Liquidhighly flexible and elastic; non-cytotoxic; low refractive index25xITO-coated, Superfrost
GP-Silica1.463Liquidfused silica glass as final part; thermal, mechanical and chemical stability; high optical transparency10xSilicon, other substrates

Technology Overview

 

 Click here to expand...

3D Printing using Two Photon Polymerization (2PP)

Nanoscribe's technology for the fabrication of three-dimensional micro- and nanostructures in photo-sensitive materials is based on direct laser writing (DLW): a non-linear two-photon absorption process (2PA; Figure 1). A necessary condition for two photons of near-infrared light being absorbed simultaneously is a sufficiently high light intensity that is provided by a femtosecond pulsed laser beam.[ref][ref] Typically, the laser is focused into the resin and two-photon polymerization (2PP) is triggered only in the focal spot volume (Figure 2-1), where the light intensity exceeds a polymerization threshold.[ref] The resin is otherwise transparent to the wavelength of the photons (Figure 2-2). In contrast, one photon absorption (1PA) with an equivalent energy takes place along the whole light cone (Figure 2-2).
The smallest printable 3D volume is termed a voxel, which is analogous to a 2D pixel. Moving the laser focus along a trajectory in all three dimensions enables printing of structures built from multiple voxels and printed lines (Figure 3). This technology enables printing of structures with small, medium and large feature sizes in 3D as well as 2D patterns (  |  ).


0315_drawing_2PA_EnergyLevel.pngOne and two photon absorption, where an excited state S1 is reached that triggers polymerization of a suitable resin.


0263_drawing_2PA_1PA.jpgRepresentation of the intensity distribution for one and two photon absorption.0264_photo_2PA_1PA.jpgImaging fluorescence from one and two photon absorption processes.

Comparison between one and two photon absorption (courtesy of S. Ruzin and H. Aaron, UC Berkeley).


0316_drawing_PrintProcess.pngPrinting process of a 3D free-form structure using 2PP.[ref] The laser focus is deflected to precise locations in the resin as per the structural design. Development of the structure removes unpolymerized resin and the desired structure remains attached to the substrate.


Further reading

Absorption probability

The nonlinear light absorption of the 2PP resin exhibits an absorption probability PmaterialLPnavgt���������∝������⋅� with n reflecting the multi-photon process (mainly two photon activation), t the time of exposure and LPavg����� the average laser power.[ref] The absorption competes with a quenching process, leading to a threshold at which polymerization of the 2PP resin starts (Figure 4-1).[ref] The iso-intensity surface (Figure 4-2) in the focal spot where the intensity is equal to the threshold defines the size and shape of the printed ellipsoidal voxel.[ref] Figure 4-2 provides a plot of the squared intensities I2�2, as this is proportional to the absorption probability for two photon absorption, PmaterialI2���������∝�2. In contrast, the one photon absorption probability is proportional to the intensity I.[ref][ref]

0261_drawing_threshold_2PA.gif3D squared-intensity spacial distribution and threshold for 2PP.[ref][ref]0262_drawing_intesity.png2D squared-intensity spacial distribution for 2PP.

3D and 2D spacial distribution of intensity and polymerization threshold.


Structural dimensions

It is possible to print line widths smaller than the diffraction-limited resolution of the objective lens.[ref] However, the period of the lines still is diffraction-limited by the objective lens.[ref] In addition, the proximity effect of the polymerization limits the line printing period.[ref] The proximity effect describes the (in this case) unintended, sub-threshold polymerization of resin between neighboring printed lines. Adjusting the dose in the focal spot leads to variable voxel sizes, with a lower limit of polymerization theshold and an upper limit of over-exposure. The dose and the distance between neighboring printed lines control the degree of polymerization.

Sample Requirements and Preparation


Standard Operating Procedure

Training video on 6/24/2021, (only available for Purdue users)


Questions & Troubleshooting




Process Library


References

Nanoguide Wiki: https://support.nanoscribe.com/hc/en-gb

General user login:

UN: bncstud@purdue.edu

PW: Bncstud1*