Complex polymer microtools for on-demand contact-free applications

In this chapter results on light-activated microstructures are surveyed. A short introduction is given on the preparation and actuation methods that make these applications most versatile. The presented structures are fabricated with two-photon polymerization, a 3D direct laser writing technique. With this technique, 3D objects with practically unlimited complexity can be polymerized with 100 nm feature size. The demonstrated systems exploit radiation pressure, single or multibeam optical tweezing and the combination of the two. We also discuss how the microtools can be functionalized with specific physical, chemical, and biochemical methods. With the appropriate surface treatment, specific tailored interactions between the microtools and the targeted objects can be designed into the system, further enhancing the capabilities of this extended optical manipulation approach. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.