3D printing of silica glass through a multiphoton polymerization process
Résumé
We introduce a laser-based process relying on multi-photon induced polymerization to produce complex 3D glass parts. A focused, intense, laser beam is used to polymerize a transparent resin, loaded with additives and silica nanoparticles, at the wavelength of the laser beam through non-linear absorption processes. The object is created directly in the volume, overcoming the limitation of layer-by-layer process. The process enables the production of silica parts with consecutive debinding and sintering processes. 3D objects of centimetric dimensions are obtained with bulk silica density and a resolution that depends on the laser spot size.