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3D-printed silica with nanoscale resolution.

Xiewen WenBoyu ZhangWeipeng WangFan YeShuai YueHua GuoGuanhui GaoYushun ZhaoQiyi FangChristine NguyenXiang ZhangJiming BaoJacob T RobinsonPulickel M AjayanJun Lou
Published in: Nature materials (2021)
Fabricating inorganic materials with designed three-dimensional nanostructures is an exciting yet challenging area of research and industrial application. Here, we develop an approach to 3D print high-quality nanostructures of silica with sub-200 nm resolution and with the flexible capability of rare-earth element doping. The printed SiO2 can be either amorphous glass or polycrystalline cristobalite controlled by the sintering process. The 3D-printed nanostructures demonstrate attractive optical properties. For instance, the fabricated micro-toroid optical resonators can reach quality factors (Q) of over 104. Moreover, and importantly for optical applications, doping and codoping of rare-earth salts such as Er3+, Tm3+, Yb3+, Eu3+ and Nd3+ can be directly implemented in the printed SiO2 structures, showing strong photoluminescence at the desired wavelengths. This technique shows the potential for building integrated microphotonics with silica via 3D printing.
Keyphrases
  • high resolution
  • high speed
  • single molecule
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  • solid state