Multi-photon polymerization is widely recognised as a promising approach for the fabrication of fully 3D micro or nano-metric structures. The ability to write such structures at high plot rates would open new frontiers in many fields such as health, optical micro-devices, security holograms etc. Parallelization of the fabrication process increases fabrication speed. In a first parallelization approach we use a short pulsed laser (picoseconds or femtoseconds) with a diffractive optical element which allows simultaneous fabrication with hundreds write spots, decreasing the overall fabrication time. In a second approach, a 1920 x 1080 pixel spatial light modulator is imaged into an ultra-sensitive resist using continuous wave laser. However, massive parallelization can lead to unwanted fabrication artefacts. Light field overlapping in out-of-focus planes and proximity effects are currently major issues limiting the performance of parallel micro fabrication processes due to the undesired polymerisation that results. We will present our latest photo-chemical process digital simulation results and show how they are enabling us to develop and apply precompensation techniques to the plot data to fabricate structures with a smaller Z-extent and/or circumvent proximity effects.
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