Subregional slicing method to increase three-dimensional nanofabrication efficiency in two-photon polymerization

A subregional slicing method (SSM) is proposed to increase the nanofabrication efficiency of a nanostereolithography (NSL) process based on two-photon polymerization (TPP). The NSL process can be used to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) microstructures via the accumulation of layers of uniform thickness; hence, the precision of the final 3D microstructure depends on the layer thickness. The use of a uniform layer thickness means that, to fabricate a precise microstructure, a large number of thin slices is inevitably required, leading to long processing times. In the SSM proposed here, however, the 3D microstructure is divided into several subregions on the basis of the geometric slope, and then each of these subregions is uniformly sliced with a layer thickness determined by the geometric slope characteristics of each subregion. Subregions with gentle slopes are sliced with thin layer thicknesses, whereas subregions with steep slopes are sliced with thick layer thicknesses. Here, we describe the procedure of the SSM based on TPP, and discuss the fabrication efficiency of the method through the fabrication of a 3D microstructure.