Direct laser writing of 3D metallic mid- and far-infrared wave components

A method for direct fabrication of 3D silver microstructures with high fabrication throughput on virtually any substrate is presented. The method is based on laser-induced photoreduction of silver ions to silver atoms, supported by nucleation, substrate functionalization and a multiple exposure fabrication process. The combination of the novel photosensitive suspension and the novel fabrication scheme enables effective fabrication speeds of up to 1 cm per second, with a minimum structure size of less than 1 μm, a resolution of more than 750 lines/mm and a resistivity of 3.0 · 10−8 Ωm. With this fabrication speed, it is now possible to produce conductive silver topographies several millimeters in length. Thus, with a single technology, one can fabricate photonic components with characteristic spectral features ranging from mid-to far-infrared.