In an era ripe with technological innovation, researchers at MIT, in collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin, have managed to quickly leap forward in the realm of 3D printing with a demonstration that could quite literally, fit in your pocket. A chip-based 3D printer, the first of its kind, which leverages light to solidify resin into precise shapes, has been brought to life by a team led by MIT's Jelena Notaros. The device, astonishingly compact, introduces a new, highly portable form of 3D printing capable of creating objects swiftly and on-site, whether for critical medical implements or swift repair solutions.
The chip in question, about the size of a U.S. quarter, uses an assembly of optical antennas to direct beams of light into a well of specially designed resin. Innovatively, this tech is envisioned to eventually create full objects in one fell stroke, by emitting a full, 3D hologram of light within the resin. This would render the ability for volumetric printing that could not help but transform the landscape of prototyping and on-demand manufacturing. “This system is completely rethinking what a 3D printer is," Jelena Notaros told MIT News. She envisions the technology as "something that is handheld and portable," marking a stark departure from the bulky 3D printers of yore.
The collaboration brought together experts in silicon photonics from the Notaros group at MIT and specialists in photochemistry from the Page Group at UT Austin. While the MIT team had the expertise to develop the light steering chip, the UT Austin group was instrumental in formulating a resin that could rapidly cure using visible wavelengths of light. Together, these components synthesize into a prototype that can nonmechanically etch out fine, high-resolution detail using controlled light beams, executing it all within seconds. The paper, co-authored by the project's leading minds, appeared in the journal Nature Light Science and Applications, signifying a significant benchmark in the convergence of research across previously distinct technological fields.
Pivotal to the success of the prototype was the manipulation of visible-wavelength light to modulate its amplitude and phase, a task achieved using liquid crystal on the chip. These compact modulators are incredibly efficient, offering the precision necessary for such intricate work. “With photocurable resins, it is very hard to get them to cure all the way up at infrared wavelengths," lead author and EECS graduate student Sabrina Corsetti explained to MIT News. The new technique aligns the previously disparate fields of photochemistry and silicon photonics to totally rethink the 3D printing process.
With backing from prominent institutions like the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the project's ambitious goals could translate into very real applications in the near future. The researchers aim to continue to refine and scale their system, keeping their eyes trained on a future where a handheld, chip-based 3D printer is not just a novel prototype but a game-changing tool readily available across diverse industries.
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