Highly effective three-dimensional large-scale microfabrication using a continuous scanning method

Effective scanning is an important issue in two-photon induced stereolithography (TPS) for the reduction of the processing time required to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) nano/microstructures. In large-scale TPS based on a stage-scanning system, the large processing time due to the intrinsic slow response in the stage scanning system is a major obstacle to its use as a practical nanofabrication process. To overcome this drawback, we propose a continuous scanning method (CSM) for a stage-scanning system. In CSM, a pattern is generated with continuous movement of the stage during laser beam exposure. A stable fabrication window (SFW), which enables uniform motion of the stage without errors considering the stage characteristics, was obtained from fundamental experiments. Within the condition of a SFW, 2D and 3D microstructures having nanoscale details were fabricated with a whole scale range of several hundred micrometers using CSM.