Two-Photon Polymerization Direct Laser Writing of Ultra-Small Brownian Viscometers

Measuring the viscosity of small fluid volumes can be challenging. Researchers from the HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged and collaborators recently reported on two-photon polymerization direct laser written (3D printed) ultra-small Brownian viscometers to address exactly this.

The team used Menlo Systems’ C-Fiber 780 – a model from 14 years ago! – to 3D print viscometer structures of a few tens of microns in size to successfully measure viscosities of Newtonian liquids. The results could lead to a practical low-volume viscometers that can be fully integrated into lab-on-a-chip devices. The results also show the longevity of our ultrafast fiber lasers!