The pyroelectric functionality of a Lithium Niobate (LN) substrate is used for non-contact manipulation of polymeric
material. In this work we introduced a novel approach for fabricating a wide variety of soft solid-like microstructures,
thus leading to a new concept in 3D lithography. A relatively easy to accomplish technique has been demonstrated for
curing different transient stages of polymer fluids by rapid cross-linking of PDMS. The method is twofold innovative
thanks to the electrode-less configuration and to the rapid formation of a wide variety of 3D solid-like structures by
exploiting polymer instabilities. This new and unique technique is named "pyro-electrohydrodynamic (PEHD)
lithography", meaning the generation of structures by using forces produced by electric fields generated by the
pyroelectric effect. The fabrication of polymer wires, needles, pillars, cones, or microspheres is reported, and practical
proofs of their use in photonics are presented.
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