3D printing of silica glass through a multiphoton polymerization process

We introduce a laser-based process relying on multiphoton-induced polymerization to produce complex three-dimensional (3D) glass parts. A focused, intense laser beam is used to polymerize a transparent resin, loaded with additives and silica nanoparticles, at the wavelength of the laser beam through nonlinear absorption processes. The object is created directly in the volume, overcoming the limitation of the layer-by-layer process. The process enables the production of silica parts with consecutive debinding and sintering processes. With bulk silica density and a resolution that depends on the laser spot size, 3D objects of centimetric dimensions are obtained.