Subthreshold laser jetting via flow-focusing in laser-induced forward transfer

Increasing the printing resolution of drop-on-demand printing and deposition techniques is important for many industrial applications. In this Rapid Communication, we present a technique to minimize the jet size and reduce the laser threshold energy of a variant of the laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) process called blister-actuated LIFT. We fabricate micrometer-sized holes onto the solid polyimide thin-film substrate which hosts the donor liquid ink film to be printed. Due to the micrometer size of the holes, surface tension effects are enhanced, a meniscus is formed at the air-ink interface, and the resulting focused jets are thinner and faster than regular jets.