Selective electroless plating to fabricate complex three-dimensional metallic micro/nanostructures

We report on selective metal deposition over complex polymer structures formed by two-photon induced photopolymerization technique. Periodic three-dimensional micro/nanostructures are fabricated by means of a microlens array to produce multiple spots from a single-beam femtosecond laser. An electroless plating method is used to deposit a thin silver film onto the sample surface. The glass slide surface supporting the structures is chemically modified to avoid silver coating of the substrate. Our technique enables to produce complex metallic structures with arbitrary shapes under ambient conditions. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.