National Lab Discovery Series: LLNL's Massively Parallel Two-Photon Lithography Using Metaoptics

Why It Matters

Massively parallel two‑photon lithography transforms nanomanufacturing from a slow, lab‑scale process into a high‑throughput, wafer‑scale capability, unlocking commercial opportunities in advanced electronics, biomedical devices, and metamaterials.

Key Takeaways

• Parallel two‑photon lithography boosts print speed 1,000×.
• Meta‑optics lens arrays enable wafer‑scale 3D printing.
• Spatial light modulator controls individual focal spots for custom geometries.
• 113 nm feature size achieved with silicon metasurface lenses.
• Technology already won R&D 100 award, ready for commercialization.

Summary

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory unveiled a breakthrough in two‑photon lithography that replaces a single focal spot with a massive array of meta‑optics lenses. By coupling a high‑energy femtosecond laser to a spatial light modulator (SLM) and a wafer‑scale silicon metasurface lens array, the system generates up to 120,000 simultaneous focal points, each acting as an independent 3D printer. This parallel approach overcomes the traditional field‑of‑view limitation of microscope objectives, expanding the printable area to 3 cm × 3 cm while preserving sub‑100 nm resolution.

The team demonstrated a thousand‑fold speed increase compared with commercial single‑spot printers, reducing a multi‑month job to a two‑hour run. Minimum line widths of 113 nm were achieved, and the platform can switch individual lenses on or off via the SLM, allowing heterogeneous structures—such as combined lattice, wall, and fluidic networks—to be printed in a single pass. Applications showcased include micro‑lattices for lightweight materials, neural probe arrays, terahertz metamaterials, and high‑throughput production of 50 million micro‑particles per day.

Key technical insights include the use of an older, high‑pulse‑energy femtosecond laser (million‑times stronger than typical two‑photon systems) and inverse‑design algorithms developed with Stanford to tailor metasurface phase profiles for 800 nm light. The silicon metasurface lenses are fabricated using standard clean‑room processes, ensuring scalability and compatibility with existing semiconductor manufacturing lines. The SLM provides pixel‑level control, enabling adaptive modulation where each lens prints distinct features—demonstrated by a 16‑piece chess set printed in parallel.

The advancement positions LLNL’s Center for Engineered Materials Manufacturing to commercialize high‑resolution, high‑throughput additive manufacturing for electronics, optics, and life‑science markets. With a proven R&D 100 award and a clear pathway for licensing and CRADA agreements, the technology promises to accelerate product development cycles, lower costs, and open new design spaces for micro‑structured devices that were previously infeasible.

Original Description

This National Lab Discovery Series webinar highlighted a breakthrough from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in metalens-based two-photon lithography (TPL). This next-generation additive manufacturing platform enables massively parallel fabrication of complex, multi-scale 3D microstructures using more than 120,000 individually addressable focal spots.

By dramatically increasing throughput while maintaining high precision, this innovation opens new possibilities for microelectronics, quantum devices, fusion energy systems, and other advanced technology applications.

For more information, visit: https://labpartnering.org/technology-summaries/il-13643plus-metalens-enabled-tpp-printing?labs%5B%5D=llnl