The disclosed methods and apparatus improve the fabrication of
solid fibers and microstructures. In many embodiments, the fabrication is from gaseous,
solid, semi-
solid, liquid, critical, and supercritical mixtures using one or more low
molar mass precursor(s), in combination with one or more high
molar mass precursor(s). The methods and systems generally employ the thermal
diffusion / Soret effect to concentrate the low
molar mass precursor at a
reaction zone, where the presence of the high
molar mass precursor contributes to this concentration, and may also contribute to the reaction and insulate the
reaction zone, thereby achieving higher
fiber growth rates and / or reduced energy / heat expenditures together with reduced homogeneous
nucleation. In some embodiments, the invention also relates to the permanent or semi-permanent recording and / or reading of information on or within fabricated fibers and microstructures. In some embodiments, the invention also relates to the fabrication of certain functionally-shaped fibers and microstructures. In some embodiments, the invention may also utilize
laser beam profiling to enhance
fiber and
microstructure fabrication.