3D Printed Ion Traps
Name
rodriguez-juliorod-meng-eecs-2026-thesis.pdf
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40.33 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
14e86ea24fcfa037d0fe0bff75627aff
Author(s)
Rodriguez, Julio
Advisor(s)
Chuang, Isaac
Date Issued
February 2026
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Three-dimensional ion trap geometries offer significant advantages over planar designs, including deeper trapping potentials and improved confinement, but remain difficult to fabricate at microscopic scales using conventional microfabrication techniques. Two-photon polymerization (2PP) enables the fabrication of geometrically complex three-dimensional polymer microstructures with micron-scale resolution, yet these structures are electrically insulating and challenging to metallize selectively. This thesis addresses the combined challenges of trap design and fabrication by developing a workflow that integrates numerical simulation of non-planar ion trap geometries with a wet-chemical electroless metallization process compatible with 2PP-printed structures. A custom finite-difference electrostatic solver is implemented to enable rapid simulation and evaluation of candidate three-dimensional ion trap designs. The solver is validated against analytical solutions for ideal quadrupole traps and extended to explore a range of geometries relevant to metallized 2PP fabrication. To realize these designs experimentally, a resin-agnostic surface chemistry is developed that enables selective electroless metallization of acrylate-based 2PP prints while suppressing metal deposition on surrounding glass substrates. The process combines surface saponification, amide coupling to introduce catechol functionality, optional polymer crosslinking, and substrate passivation to achieve robust, conductive microstructures with micron-scale feature sizes. While full ion trapping experiments are beyond the scope of this work, the results demonstrate that both the numerical design tools and the fabrication pipeline are viable, providing a path toward scalable, fully three-dimensional ion traps that are compatible with high-resolution additive manufacturing.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
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