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Research Results

Microfabrication method development

FABulous is investigating two complimentary approaches for high resolution, high speed, multi-photon 3D printing of 3D metasurfaces. The aim to identify the optimum method for manufacturing metasurfaces with different applications. The first approach is based on massively parallelised lithographic printing which has been shown to enable writing of up to millions of voxels per exposure while  reducing 3D proximity effects. The second approach uses a technique called holographic layer by layer 3D printing, which uses spatial temporal pulse shaping to further reduce or completely remove undesired out-of-plane polymerisation.

Example structures produced by the FABulous team using these techniques are shown below.

Integrated Metasurface Design and Process Modelling

Industrial scale manufacturing of products with integrated metasurfaces requires the development of methods and tools that connect system level design with metasurface design so that the resulting product can fully exploit the unique functions that the metasurface can provide. FABulous is therefore developing approaches for multi-scale simulation of metasurface enabled products from nano-scale to meter-scale. Our current work is exploring the use of rapid simulation to co-optimize the metasurfaces with the optical elements of the target products. Ensuring  that the final products take maximum benefit from the integrated metasurface.

An example comparison of the results of our simulation work with experimental results is shown below.

Life Cycle Assessment

Metasurfaces have the potential to reduce the environmental footprint of commercial products through enhanced efficiency, material savings, increased durability, and better recycling. However, the realization of these benefits requires that the lifecycle impacts of products with integrated metasurfaces are thoroughly assessed and optimized. A key goal of FABulous is to understand the extent to which manufacturing of products with integrated metasurfaces reduces their environmental footprint. To do so our partner IRES is conducting lifecycle assessments (LCA) for each of the FABulous use cases. LCA is a systematic approach for evaluating the environmental impacts associated with all stages of a product’s life, from raw material extraction through manufacturing, use, and disposal or recycling. Throughout the project the environmental impact of the FABulous production process will be monitored and measured to assess where materials savings can be made and whether production is more efficient using the FABulous techniques.

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