Mask projection microstereolithography (MPμSL) uses a dynamic mask and focusing optics to digitally pattern UV light and selectively cure entire layers of photopolymer resin. These systems have been shown to be capable of creating parts with features smaller than 10μm. In this paper, the authors analyze existing MPμSL systems using functional decomposition. Within the context of a morphological...

A new approach is presented to fabricate open-cellular carbon materials with an ordered, lattice-type micro-scale architecture. The carbon micro-lattice materials were fabricated by pyrolyzing a polymer precursor template formed from an interconnected three-dimensional array of self-propagating photopolymer waveguides. Impregnating the polymer precursor template with acrylonitrile increased the...

The controlled synthesis of nonspherical microparticles using microfluidics processing is described. Polymer droplets, formed by shearing a photopolymer using a continuous water phase at a T-junction, were constrained to adopt nonspherical shapes by confining them using appropriate microchannel geometries. Plugs were obtained by shearing the polymer phase at low shear rates, while disks were ob...

Performance of optical interconnects using volume holographic gratings and substrate-guided waves is subject to source wavelength detuning which originates from laser chirping and operating temperature changes. In this letter, we characterize and measure the dispersion of commonly used surface-normal volume holographic gratings. Dispersion characteristics of a 20 mm thick photopolymer volume ho...

Graded-reflectivity mirrors for 1064-nm wavelength have been fabricated by use of volume phase holograms recorded in photopolymer films. A method for producing such holograms for the 1064-nm radiation by use of a 532-nm light source with a short (0.1-mm) coherence length was developed. The measured peak reflectivity of the mirror reached 95%, and its super-Gaussian profile well matched that cal...