Light-Based 3D Printing for Optics

Dear Colleagues,

As an additive manufacturing process, 3D printing has revolutionized many technological fields and has been particularly impactful in applications specifically regarding optics. It has enabled the fabrication of optical components and devices spanning the optical spectrum, from the terahertz to the ultraviolet regime, and across various size scales, from macroscale (centimeters) to nanoscale (nanometers). The demanding geometrical and material properties of optics are achieved using a variety of light-based 3D printing techniques, including vat polymerization, stereolithography, multi-photon polymerization, etc. Examples of printed optics with these methods include diffractive optical elements, lenses, waveguides, metasurfaces/metamaterials, photonic crystals, etc.

It is through unique and creative applications of these printing technologies that new and more efficient optical components and devices are developed. This includes new 3D printing techniques like the growing set of volumetric printing processes, including tomographic volumetric additive manufacturing, and the increasing diversity of available printed materials beyond polymers, such as glasses, semiconductors, and metals.

This Special Issue highlights a diverse range of topics related to the use of light-based additive advanced manufacturing processes to fabricate optical components and devices, aiming to capture the broad applications of 3D printing in this field. We welcome contributions in the form of experimental, theoretical, and numerical research articles, as well as comprehensive reviews and perspectives. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following research areas:

• Multi-photon polymerization;
• Light-based additive manufacturing;
• High refractive index printing;
• Optical metamaterials/metasurfaces;
• Printed optical elements: lenses, diffractive optical elements, waveguides, photonic crystals;
• Printing inorganic materials: metals, semiconductors, quantum dots;
• Optical design;
• 3D optical coatings.

Dr. Paul Somers
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Photonics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• multi-photon polymerization
• light-based additive manufacturing
• high refractive index printing
• optical metamaterials/metasurfaces
• printed optical elements: lenses, diffractive optical elements, waveguides, photonic crystals
• printing inorganic materials: metals, semiconductors, quantum dots
• optical design
• 3D optical coatings