Laser microprinting of liquid suspensions

Abstract

Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) is a non-contact direct-write technique with a high spatial resolution and able to print a wide range of liquids in air and at room temperature. The versatility of LIFT has made it a promising alternative to lithography-based processes for the rapid fabrication of biomolecule microarrays. The aim of this work is the study of LIFT using femtosecond laser pulses and a solution suitable to act as a solvent for biomolecules. The influence of the main process parameter, laser pulse energy, on the morphological properties of the transferred droplets is analyzed. Circular and uniform droplets are obtained with good reproducibility. In addition, we observe a relationship between energy and droplet radius never identified before: a linear dependence of the radius to the fifth power with laser pulse energy.