Custom-made optical scatterers produced by 3D direct laser writing

While 3D direct laser writing is a technique with growing popularity, there is little information about the quality of custom-made optical scatterers in current literature. The present work investigates a 3D direct laser writing system in view of its capability of producing micron scaled scatterers. Angular resolved scattering measurements on these scatterers are compared to numerical and analytical simulations proving the feasibility to produce elementary shaped particles with almost ideal shapes. Possible promising applications of these particles as scattering phantoms for biological samples are examined. Without the need for templates and molds, and a production cycle of less than a day, this method is ideally suited for the rapid prototyping of particle designs. (C) 2019 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement