Stress-driven photo-reconfiguration of surface microstructures via vectorial field-guided lithography
Abstract
Pattern formation driven by mechanical stress plays a fundamental role in shaping structural organization in both natural and human-made systems. Using light as a vectorial stimulus may offer a powerful route to control stress-induced pattern formation in materials. However, achieving localized, programmable, and predictable control of individual microstructures via structured polarization fields has remained a major challenge. Here, we introduce vectorial field-guided lithography, a novel approach that leverages fully structured polarization fields as lithographic tools to enable the stress-driven reconfiguration of pre-patterned azopolymer microstructures with an unprecedented degree of flexibility, complexity, and diversity. By building on the Viscoplastic PhotoAlignment model, which describes the azopolymer deformation as a stress response to structured light, we quantitatively demonstrate and predict complex surface architectures generated by programmable light-induced stress pathways using a digital polarization rotator implemented via a spatial light modulator. We model and experimentally achieve single-step formation of anisotropic, bent, and chiral microstructures from a single pre-patterned geometry. Our results reveal an exceptional control over local microstructure morphology and establish, for the first time, a comprehensive theoretical framework capable of quantitatively designing and fabricating target morphologies on azopolymers. This work moves beyond conventional intensity-based photopatterning and demonstrates that the full vectorial nature of light can dictate the mechanical reshaping of functional polymer surfaces, providing a new platform for the programmable design of complex microarchitectures with applications in photonics, microfluidics, and biology.
Related
- The vectorial holographic lithography in azomaterials: phenomenology, challenges, and future directions
- Programmable surface anisotropy from polarization-driven azopolymer reconfiguration
- Elasto-Plastocapillarity: Surface-Tension-Driven Flows of Yield-Stress Fluids
- Passive axial confinement in two-photon lithography with a 3D-printed pupil filter
- Plasmonic Lithography Optical Proximity Correction Method Based on Decomposed Machine Learning Fast Imaging Model
BibTeX
@article{januariyasa2026stressdriven,
title = {{Stress-driven photo-reconfiguration of surface microstructures via vectorial field-guided lithography}},
author = {I Komang Januariyasa and Francesco Reda and Nikolai Liubimtsev and Pawan Patel and Cody Pedersen and Fabio Borbone and Marcella Salvatore and Marina Saphiannikova and David J. Mcgee and Stefano Luigi Oscurato},
journal = {Light: Science and Applications},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s41377-025-02174-5},
eprint = {2506.06857},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05789705v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Stress-driven photo-reconfiguration of surface microstructures via vectorial field-guided lithography
AU - I Komang Januariyasa
AU - Francesco Reda
AU - Nikolai Liubimtsev
AU - Pawan Patel
AU - Cody Pedersen
AU - Fabio Borbone
AU - Marcella Salvatore
AU - Marina Saphiannikova
AU - David J. Mcgee
AU - Stefano Luigi Oscurato
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - Light: Science and Applications
DO - 10.1038/s41377-025-02174-5
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05789705v1
AB - Pattern formation driven by mechanical stress plays a fundamental role in shaping structural organization in both natural and human-made systems. Using light as a vectorial stimulus may offer a powerful route to control stress-induced pattern formation in materials. However, achieving localized, programmable, and predictable control of individual microstructures via structured polarization fields has remained a major challenge. Here, we introduce vectorial field-guided lithography, a novel approach that leverages fully structured polarization fields as lithographic tools to enable the stress-driven reconfiguration of pre-patterned azopolymer microstructures with an unprecedented degree of flexibility, complexity, and diversity. By building on the Viscoplastic PhotoAlignment model, which describes the azopolymer deformation as a stress response to structured light, we quantitatively demonstrate and predict complex surface architectures generated by programmable light-induced stress pathways using a digital polarization rotator implemented via a spatial light modulator. We model and experimentally achieve single-step formation of anisotropic, bent, and chiral microstructures from a single pre-patterned geometry. Our results reveal an exceptional control over local microstructure morphology and establish, for the first time, a comprehensive theoretical framework capable of quantitatively designing and fabricating target morphologies on azopolymers. This work moves beyond conventional intensity-based photopatterning and demonstrates that the full vectorial nature of light can dictate the mechanical reshaping of functional polymer surfaces, providing a new platform for the programmable design of complex microarchitectures with applications in photonics, microfluidics, and biology.
SN - 2095-5545
SN - 2047-7538
ER -