Two-photon absorption under few-photon irradiation for optical nanoprinting

Zi-Xin Liang, Yuan-Yuan Zhao (), Jing-Tao Chen, Xian-Zi Dong, Feng Jin, Mei-Ling Zheng () and Xuan-Ming Duan ()
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Zi-Xin Liang: Jinan University
Yuan-Yuan Zhao: Jinan University
Jing-Tao Chen: Jinan University
Xian-Zi Dong: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Feng Jin: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Mei-Ling Zheng: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xuan-Ming Duan: Jinan University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Two-photon absorption (TPA) has been widely applied for three-dimensional imaging and nanoprinting; however, the efficiency of TPA imaging and nanoprinting using laser scanning techniques is limited by its trade-off to reach high resolution. Here, we unveil a concept, few-photon irradiated TPA, supported by a spatiotemporal model based on the principle of wave-particle duality of light. This model describes the precise time-dependent mechanism of TPA under ultralow photon irradiance with a single tightly focused femtosecond laser pulse. We demonstrate that a feature size of 26 nm (1/20 λ) and a pattern period of 0.41 λ with a laser wavelength of 517 nm can be achieved by performing digital optical projection nanolithography under few-photon irradiation using the in-situ multiple exposure technique, improving printing efficiency by 5 orders of magnitude. We show deeper insights into the TPA mechanism and encourage the exploration of potential applications for TPA in nanoprinting and nanoimaging.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57390-9

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