Experimental and Numerical Study on Micro-Stereolithography of Ceramics

Micro-stereolithography (μSL) uses laser light to solidify UV-curable resin mixed with concentrated ceramic powders. During the μSL process, the light scattering from the particle suspension is found to significantly influence the fabrication resolution and curing depth which are critical for the complex 3D microfabrication. In this work, we developed a novel doping technique to substantially reduce the light scattering; thus, enhance the fabrication precision and control. Both Monte-Carlo simulations and experimental studies are carried out to understand the detailed micro-scale optical scattering, chemical reaction (polymerization) and their influences to fabricated line-width.