Building tiny structures—two photons at a time

These days, most people are familiar with how 3-D printers work. But, just in case you’re not, much like regular ink printers, materials are deposited on a surface, except during 3-D printing, constituents are layered and built upon until the final shape is achieved.

Join us for this talk when Matthew Herman, with the Lab’s Engineered Materials group, will talk about what’s called “two-photon polymerization.” It is a form of 3-D printing but an object is built within a chemically photo-reactive material using ultrashort laser pulses. Building an object a couple of photons at a time means that despite their small size (only a couple hundred microns across), such items can be constructed with fine detail.

Items manufactured this way could benefit everything from high-energy physics to the production of tiny scaffolding that would allow cells to grow in a 3-D environment that’s much closer to nature (think about a trellis versus a flat Petri dish).

Join us at UnQuarked Wine room in Los Alamos for a short, informal presentation followed by lively questions, answers, and discussion. 

The American Chemical Society, Central New Mexico Local Section, will provide light refreshments.

All ages are welcome to attend.

Science On Tap is a convivial opportunity to engage with Lab scientists on their current projects. A brief presentation is followed by lively questions, answers, and discussion. The fun takes place on the third Monday of each month from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the UnQuarked Wine Room at 145 Central Park Plaza in Los Alamos. Bradbury Science Museum Association members receive $1 off any drink or food items purchased from UnQuarked during Science On Tap.

The sessions are a joint project between the Bradbury Science Museum and the Los Alamos Creative District.