Femtosecond Laser in Polymeric Materials: Microfabrication of Doped Structures and Micromachining

The use of laser light to modify the material´s surface or bulk as well as to induce changes in the volume through a chemical reaction has received great attention in the last few years, due to the possibility of tailoring the material´s properties aiming at technological applications. Here, we report on recent progress of microstructuring and microfabrication in polymeric materials by using femtosecond lasers. In the first part, we describe how polymeric materials´ micromachining, either on the surface or bulk, can be employed to change their optical and chemical properties promising for fabricating waveguides, resonators, and self-cleaning surfaces. In the second part, we discuss how two-photon absorption polymerization can be used to fabricate active microstructures by doping the basic resin with molecules presenting biological and optical properties of interest. Such microstructures can be used to fabricate devices with applications in optics, such as microLED, waveguides, and also in medicine, such as scaffolds for tissue growth.