Customized mix of materials for three-dimensional micro- and nanostructures

Three-dimensional structures on the micrometer and nanometer scales have a great potential for many applications. An efficient and precise process to print such structures from different materials is now presented by researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Carl Zeiss AG in Science Advances: they integrated a microfluidic chamber into a 3D laser lithography device. Then, they used this system to produce multi-colored, fluorescent security features to protect banknotes, documents, and branded products against counterfeiting.