Master 2 Opportunity: Advanced Two-photon Microfabrication of Gold Structures

id="offer-description" class="ecl-u-type-heading-2 ecl-u-mt-none ecl-u-mb-l">Offer Description Context: Additive manufacturing (AM), commonly known as 3D printing, is an innovative technology that has rapidly transformed production and prototyping processes benefiting multiple industries. The swift development of 3D-printing methods in combination with advanced and functional materials finds applications from basic research to industry such as healthcare, biotechnology, and robotics. Among the various AM techniques, two-photon direct laser writing (a.k.a. two-photon microprinting, 2PP) plays a prominent role due to the nano- and microscale resolution it can achieve. 2PP relies on the nonlinear absorption of photoinitiators, which triggers photochemical reactions localized in the region of highest laser intensity leading to the final desired structure.[1] While various resins and processes currently enable the fabrication of 3D microstructures of various materials, extending this technology to metallic systems remains a significant challenge. Research into metallic 2PP is currently limited, and the resulting microstructures often exhibit poor electrical, thermal, and plasmonic properties, thereby restricting their practical application. Research objectives: Our research group is looking for a talented student to pioneer new photochemical strategies for the 2PP of metallic structures. This project aims to overcome the current limitations in metal microfabrication, focusing spec