Researchers have developed a new laser-based process for 3D printing intricate parts made of glass. With further development, the new method could be useful for making complex optics for vision, imaging, illumination or laser-based applications.

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“Most 3D printing processes build up an object layer by layer,” said research team leader Laurent Gallais from The Fresnel Institute and Ecole Centrale Marseille in France. “Our new process avoids the limitations of these processes by using a laser beam to transform — or polymerize — a liquid precursor into solid glass.”

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In The Optical Society (OSA) journal Optics Letters, Gallais and research team members Thomas Doualle and Jean-Claude Andre demonstrate how they used the new technique to create detailed objects in a 3D volume without using the classical layer-by-layer approach. Using this approach, they created a variety of silica glass objects such as miniature models of a bike and the Eiffel Tower without any pores or cracks. For further information see the The 3D printing approach is based on multiphoton polymerization, which ensures that polymerization, a process that links liquid monomer molecules together into a solid polymer, only takes place at the precise laser focal point. It allows direct fabrication of 3D […]

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