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2003
Conference Paper
Title
Control of self-writing processes in photopolymerizable resins for the fabrication of micro-optical structures
Abstract
We present the investigation of 3D micro-optical structure formation in photopolymerizable polymers due to controlled self-writing processes. A locally deposited amount of energy during the material exposure leads to a local non-linear change of the refractive index. This results in self-focusing and self-guiding effects. The influence from a set of process parameters (chemical parameters, exposure conditions) on the structure formation is investigated theoretically by an iterative beam propagation method (BPM) to investigate the opportunities for a well directed usage of the selforganizing material character. The basis for this is a theoretical and experimental study of the material response towards the absorbed energy, which is presented in this paper. The experimental realization is exemplarily shown by the fabrication of high aspect ratio conic structures in ORMOCEIC polymers.