Multiple-spot parallel processing for laser micronanofabrication

A tightly focused femtosecond laser has been established as a unique tool for micronanostructure fabrication due to its intrinsic three-dimensional processing. In this letter, we utilize a microlens array to produce multiple spots for parallel fabrication, giving rise to a revolutionary augmentation for our previously developed single-beam two-photon photopolymerization technology [S. Kawata, H.-B. Sun, T. Tanaka, and K. Takada, Nature (London) 412, 697 (2001)]. Two- and three-dimensional multiple structures, such as microletter set and self-standing microspring array, are demonstrated as examples of mass production. More than 200 spot simultaneous fabrication has been realized by optimizing the exposure condition for the photopolymerizable resin, i.e., a two-order increase of yield efficiency. Potential applications of this technique are discussed.