Nanosculpting a thousand times faster than ever before
By Clay Dillow Posted 03.12.2012 at 5:02 pm 16 Comments

A 285-Micrometer Indy Car Printed With Two-Photon Lithography Captured by a scanning electron microscope. Vienna University of Technology

What’s the point of 3-D printing an Indy car if it’s not ultra-fast? Using a high-resolution 3-D printing technology known as “two-photon lithography”--a technique that is normally quite slow--researchers at the Vienna University of Technology have made a huge breakthrough in printing speed, setting a new high-speed record by printing orders of magnitude faster than was previously possible.

The new super-fast printing technology relies on a liquid resin filled with photoactive molecules that harden when they absorb two photons from a laser beam. This resin is actually a breakthrough in itself, as it allows a fast-moving, highly focused laser beam to quickly harden the liquid medium in just the right places. By improving the control mechanism of the mirrors that guide the laser, the team was able to vastly increase the speed with which the laser can blow through the liquid resin, setting with precision layer by layer.

In doing so, this technique--which used to be measured by millimeters per second--can now cover five meters in one second. For the race car pictured above, that means rapidly laying down 100 layers of hardened resin each consisting of 200 single lines each in just four minutes. The race car itself is just 285 micrometers long and has to be imaged with a scanning electron microscope. But because the technique is now so fast, researchers now say this super-high-resolution fabrication technology can be applied to larger objects as well.

See the Indy car above take shape right here:


16 Comments

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LostRider
03/12/12 at 8:15 pm

I like the part where the video doesn't even start until the 2 minute mark. Nothing I'd rather do with my time then stare at nothingness. Also, I'm very grateful that there was no footage of the actual printer. PopSci is the best thing for my imagination, especially this article. Thanks you (_!_)'s

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justintime617
03/13/12 at 12:37 am

This one time I had to wait so long for something awesome. I cried so hard.

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James Pitts
03/13/12 at 2:10 am

For more info on tiny F1 check out

ims.engr.ucdavis.edu/research/machining-projects/3-axis/f1-racer/

Not as small but much higher detail

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Far Out Man
03/13/12 at 4:00 am

@James Pitts
... but that is a completely unrelated process and produces a model 200 times larger! Following your logic, take a look at a real F1 car ... much more detail! :-D

The 3D printing is quite fascinating. It seems as if it will only be a short time before they start producing working micro machines ... true nanobots.

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highermorals
03/13/12 at 5:42 am

So this F1 machine is .285 mm squared. That is all but a speck of dust that you can easily inhale. The real challenge is to find patterns that are useful and create new materials/devices.

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Amun-Ra
03/13/12 at 8:44 am

I always adore the powerful Mach 5!
Go Speed Racer! Go Speed Racer! Go Speed Racer, GO.....!!
This very cool technology!

....................................
Amun-Re, She was ban into a female form, but lived
her life free around abosticals with passion.
She was a King! "BEAUTIFUL!"

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scienceperson8p
03/13/12 at 1:58 pm

i agree with far out man that i hope they soon figure how to make nano-technology because of this because this like the fist step to start making nano-technology

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coffeeNcream
03/13/12 at 11:32 pm

a friend's sister-in-law makes $65 hourly on the laptop. She has been laid off for 6 months but last month her pay was $19426 just working on the laptop for a few hours. Go to this web site and read more NuttyRich . com

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CodeZero
03/14/12 at 10:51 am

best video editing EVER. 2 mins of nothing, few second of action, cut scene, final actions, end.

Playing Devil's Advocate since 1978

"The only constant in the universe is change"
-Heraclitus of Ephesus 535 BC - 475 BC

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Irmingard
03/15/12 at 1:39 pm

For all the people complaining about the video: Just go to the source article! There you will find not only a video that isn't messed up, but also pictures of other models and the actual printer ;)

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Snerdguy
03/15/12 at 7:06 pm

Despite the spam someone inconsiderately posted, I think the impact of this new technology is that objects of extreme detail can be printed much faster than before. That the object printed to demonstrate this process is microscopic points out just how fine the detail is. The new process could be used to create microscopic robots or it could create a large artificial body part like a heart or something fragile like an eardrum.

It is a process that can be scaled to produce sophisticated objects of whatever size desired. Consider the artistic possibility. A large machine could produce a life size sculpture that looks exactly like you right down to the individual hairs on your body and every pore and scar and blemish as well. How would you like to actually see yourself the way everyone else does?

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doitbetternow
03/15/12 at 9:31 pm

Highermorals, the dimensions of the F1 car 285 micrometers, not millimeters.

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quasi44
03/21/12 at 9:29 am

Uh, dad? I think I might've, uh, somehow, screwed up the timetable you had planned on for my Doctorate just a bit. Honestly NOT my fault this time! All I did was scrape a handful of Skittles off the Professor's desk!

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psciz
03/26/12 at 11:00 pm

The other models they printed, shown on the actual article site, seem more impressive than the car. I would like to have seen (properly working) videos of how the London Bridge or St. Stephen's cathedral was printed.

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QIII
03/27/12 at 11:42 pm

Reminds me of the scenes from The Andromeda Strain where they are watching the little organisms growing.



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