This technology uses a liquid, solvent-free, silica precursor, and two-photon 3D printing process for high-precision glass micro-optics. Background: Inorganic glasses are widely used in industry due to their excellent optical, chemical, and thermal properties. Conventional grinding and polishing methods are the current standard for fabricating spherical, aspherical, and flat surfaces. However, this technique is slow, incapable of affording freeform surfaces, and not suitable for fabrication of glass micro-optics. This technique will overcome the shortcomings of conventional techniques to allow for rapid fabrication of complex glass micro-optics. Applications:
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