Technology Licensing Opportunity: Glass Components Fabricated via Aerosol Jet Printing

Los Alamos researchers have developed an additive manufacturing process for producing micron-scale glass components using aerosol jet printing technology. This innovative method deposits glass particles suspended in a carrier solution layer by layer onto a substrate, followed by a sintering process to form monolithic glass structures. It eliminates the need for bulk glass melting and post-fabrication machining, enabling complex geometries and integration in compact optical, photonic, and micro-fabricated systems.

This technology offers key advantages, such as reducing reliance on traditional subtractive glass machining, supporting complex and embedded glass features, and compatibility with multiple glass compositions and substrates. The printing process allows precise deposition and building of glass features to required thickness and shape, with the ability to produce continuous, monolithic glass structures directly in final configuration.

Market applications include micro-optics, micron-scale lenses, optical waveguides, photonic interconnects, optical filters and coatings, glass-to-metal seals, and microfluidic devices. The technology is suitable for organizations seeking to incorporate advanced glass fabrication into high-precision devices.