Laser-Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT) Printing: Multiscale Analysis of Bubble Dynamics and Material Ejection
Researchers have published a multiscale review of laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT), a nozzle-free printing technique that uses laser energy to deposit functional inks, biological materials, and other hard-to-print substances. The review centers on how cavitation bubbles act as the mechanical intermediary between laser energy absorption and material ejection. Understanding these dynamics is key to improving precision and predictability in advanced manufacturing applications.
Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) is a printing method that avoids conventional nozzles by using laser pulses to eject material from a donor substrate onto a target surface, making it suitable for functional inks, nanoparticle suspensions, hydrogels, and biological materials. Despite its apparent simplicity, the process involves tightly coupled laser-liquid interactions spanning thermal, plasma, and hydrodynamic phenomena across multiple length and time scales. The review, submitted to arXiv in June 2026, systematically examines how donor ribbon architecture, absorbing-layer properties, laser parameters, and material rheology collectively govern bubble inception, jet formation, droplet breakup, and final deposition. The authors compare thermal-only, plasma-mediated, and coupled plasma-thermal-thermoelastic models for early-stage bubble inception, showing how different assumptions propagate into downstream predictions of bubble growth and jetting. Modeling approaches discussed range from reduced-order analytical estimates to interface-resolving simulations and data-driven process maps. The chapter concludes by identifying open opportunities in bubble-aware donor design, time-resolved diagnostics, benchmark datasets, and predictive process maps built around intermediate bubble and jet observables.
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Laser-Liquid Interaction in Laser-Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT) Printing: A Multiscale Perspective on Bubble Dynamics and Material Ejection
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