Abstract
Laser (or two-photon) nanopolymerization is an effective way of producing 3D polymeric submicron structures. The mainstream in developing this technology is improvement of the spatial resolution of nano-objects. Fluctuation-induced inhomogeneities are studied as the main physical reason limiting the spatial resolution of polymeric structures obtained by nanopolymerization. Typically, complex polymeric structures have the form of a raster composed of many elements, voxels, about 100 nm across. Monte Carlo simulation of a spherically symmetric polymeric voxel is carried out. It is shown that, when the voxel size becomes less than critical, the position and size of a voxel vary from realization to realization (become irreproducible). This effect is attributed to the disappearance of the voxel’s core—part of a voxel that has macroscopic properties. Irreproducible formation of the single voxels may lead to distortions of the fine features of complex microstructures and, hence, to a deterioration of the spatial resolution. Estimates are made of the minimal size of voxels that can be reproducibly produced in real laser experiments.
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Original Russian Text © A.V. Pikulin, N.M. Bityurin, 2012, published in Zhurnal Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, 2012, Vol. 82, No. 5, pp. 120–128.
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Pikulin, A.V., Bityurin, N.M. Fluctuation limitations on the voxel minimal size at laser nanopolymerization. Tech. Phys. 57, 697–705 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063784212050222
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063784212050222