Characterization of Digital Light Processing and Two-Photon Polymerization 3D printing technologies for micro-manufacturing

Additive manufacturing technologies are continuously pushing the boundaries to deliver parts with higher resolution and more convoluted shapes. In the present study, different test geometries were 3D printed using different cutting-edge commercial machines. Machine working principles are based on Digital Light Processing (DLP) and Two-Photon Polymerization (2PP) additive manufacturing. The aim of the study was to investigate the printing capabilities of the selected technologies for product applications with critical dimensions ranging from 150 μm to 500 μm. The characterization was carried out by quantifying the printed parts' dimensional compliance with the specified dimensions. The parts were examined using a 3D laser confocal microscope. Critical dimensions were measured for each printed part, and the results were compared to the nominal values. The studied parts have outer dimensions ranging from 2 mm to 6 mm, while they contain features with sizes varying from 130 μm to 500 μm. The results were categorized into two groups: (i) with information about relatively large (>2 mm) outer dimensions and (ii) data about relatively small features ([removed]