The femtosecond projection nano-printing system achieves ultrafast 30-nanometer fabrication by combining a regenerative femtosecond laser amplifier with a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD), where the DMD serves as both a light grating and a programmable binary mask, generating depth-resolved programmable light sheets through spatial and temporal focusing.
The synchronization between the femtosecond light sheet and the precision positioning stage enables the creation of complex 3D-micron and nanoscale structures, with lateral and axial resolutions of 140 nm and 175 nm, respectively, and a processing speed of approximately 100 mm³/hour. Compared to traditional two-photon lithography (TPL) systems that perform microfabrication through a serial point-by-point scanning process, the nano-printing system defines a complete plane, containing hundreds of thousands of voxels in a single exposure (i.e., 1-10 milliseconds). This makes its manufacturing speed three orders of magnitude faster than state-of-the-art commercial solutions, which typically print at 0.1 mm³/hour at this resolution.
This enables the nano-printing system to effortlessly create large 3D structures with suspended parts that were previously impossible to fabricate. More importantly, due to the enhanced 1:1.25 voxel aspect ratio, objects printed with the nano-printing system will exhibit higher structural strength. By significantly saving laser operation time, the nano-printing system effectively reduces the printing cost of each part by 90%.
By combining a regenerative femtosecond laser amplifier with Digital Micromirror Device (DMD), the nano-printing system enables ultrafast 3D nanoscale manufacturing.
DMD serves as both a light grating and programmable binary mask, generating depth-resolved programmable light sheets. This system achieves lateral and axial resolution of 140 nm and 175 nm, respectively, with a processing speed of 100 mm³/hour, three orders of magnitude faster than traditional TPL systems. The FP system can effortlessly create large 3D structures with suspended parts and offers superior structural strength due to a 1:1.25 voxel aspect ratio. This innovation significantly reduces laser operation time and lowers manufacturing costs by 90%.
Furthermore, it enables the creation of complex 3D structures with various materials, including metals, alloys, semiconductors, polymers, ceramics, and biomaterials, with minimum feature sizes as small as 30 nm. This opens up possibilities for advanced devices in photonics, medical, automotive, and aerospace applications.
System Capabilities
Multi-material Nano-fabrication using Hydrogel Substrate:
- Kinetically-controlled material assembly + shrinkage to surpass diffraction limits
- Resolution: Achieves up to 30 nm
- Materials: Over 20 types, including metals, alloys, oxides, salts, semiconductors, polymers, crystals, dyes, biomaterials, inks, etc.
Two-Photon Polymerization (with both high throughput and high resolution):
- Resolution: Lateral 140 nm, Axial 175 nm
- Throughput: 100-1000 mm³/hour
- Batch Printing Cost: $1.50 per mm³
The applications of the FP nanoprinting system include:
- Cell/tissue scaffolds
- Drug delivery devices
- Biomimetic structures
- Rapid prototyping of micro/nano fluidic devices
- Micro/nano structures
- Micro/nano robots
- Metamaterial diffraction optical elements
- Photonic devices
- Micro/nano optics
- Microstructured fibers
Main Features:
- Automated 3D printing manufacturing
- 3D stitching of large structures
- In-situ monitoring of the processing
- Direct interface/control of subsystems
The system software provides an intuitive and comprehensive user interface to monitor and control the printing process in real time. After converting custom-designed CAD files into DMD patterns, the system software controls the FP nanoprinting system to load the DMD patterns, enabling the fabrication of specific 2D or 3D structures. The software also allows users to control and directly interface with subsystems in the FP nanoprinting system, including the DMD, XYZ stage, and laser system.