Conventional diffusion-based production methods for gradient-index (GRIN) optics limit their final size to a few mm in diameter and only allow for monotonic radial gradients—limiting their use in many applications. Direct ink write (DIW) 3D printing provides a revolutionary approach to design functionally graded materials, such as GRIN optics. By blending two inks with different compositions within the printing nozzle, one can readily print a compositionally graded low density monolith, or green body. Then, using traditional ceramic processing, the resulting green body can be dried and sintered into a fully dense GRIN optic with a custom tailored refractive index profile. This presentation focuses on the development and characterization of novel, sol-gel derived TiO2-SiO2 particle formulations for use in DIW inks. Initial results show that we can use these inks to reliably fabricate uniform-composition, transparent, TiO2-SiO2 glass monoliths with varying weight percent of TiO2. Ongoing efforts to blend the inks to achieve a GRIN optic are also described. Additionally, the role of particle morphology and chemistry are discussed as they relate to the benefits and challenges in preparing a transparent glass optic by this method.

Novel sol-gel derived TiO2-SiO2 particle systems for direct ink writing compositionally tailored GRIN glasses

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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