Laser Surface Multistructuring Of Biocompatible Materials Using A Microlens Array And The Talbot Effect

It has been demonstrated that cell adhesion on biocompatible materials is modified when the surface of the material is structured instead of being totally polished [1-3]. An efficient way to texture surfaces is using the foci of a microlens array and a direct write laser technique [4]. Due to the short focal length of the microlens, they can be damaged by expelled material during ablation. In previous works we have demonstrated the capability of using the Talbot effect to distance the object from the substrate to structure it, avoiding the damage of the microlens [5]. The Talbot effect consists of the repetition of the image of a periodic object, such as the foci of microlens, when it is illuminated by a coherent beam [6]. In this work, also the fractional Talbot effect will be employed to obtain the same pattern of ablation but with a reduced period [7].