Two-photon polymerization (2PP) is an attractive technique for the fabrication of arbitrary three-dimensional structures with feature sizes down to 100 nm. In this chapter, the potential of subwavelength structures for biomedical and microoptical applications is studied. We optimized the focusing of ultrashort laser pulses and developed new materials. Specially adapted refractive-diffractive hybrid optics were designed and constructed to maintain the sub-micrometer resolution of the fabrication process for the complete height of large-scale structures. New inorganic-organic polymers were synthesized and characterized with respect to their biocompatibility and biodegradability. Additionally, molecular modeling of inorganic-organic polymers was carried out to understand the structure and dynamics of monomers and polymerization products on a molecular level. 2PP-fabricated structures for the controlled growth of human endothelia in 2D and 3D cells are presented. Finally, microlenses, diffractive optical elements, and a diaphragm array for multi-aperture camera modules were fabricated and characterized with respect to their optical performance.
© 2015 F. Burmeister et al., published by De Gruyter.