Nanoscribe 3D printers open up versatile opportunities in 3D Microfabrication Additive processes are more and more changing the world of manufacturing. Advantages like freedom in design and shortened product development cycles enable individualization and innovations of products continuously. While technologies such as SLS or Polyjet are already established in industrial production processes, the additive manufacturing of nano- and microstructures has now convincingly found its way into prototyping, tooling and small series production.
Nanoscribe, supplier and market leader of high-resolution 3D printers, provides application-specific solutions for advanced 3D Microfabrication. The Photonic Professional GT2 systems are powerful tools for the fabrication of 3D microparts with submicron features.
Video courtesy of Nanoscribe GmbH
In a fly-over video, a sequence of scanning electron microscope (SEM) images showcases extremely filigree structures fabricated with a Nanoscribe system. From different angles, diverse geometries illustrate the remarkable versatility of high-resolution 3D printing. The arrangement of 18 different objects and complex structures was quickly printed in little more than one hour. You can discover undercuts, porous, curved, upright, and smooth shapes – previous design limitations can now be overcome with this state-of-the-art microfabrication tool. Customizable topographies with continuous and discrete modulation alternate with complex, filigree 3D micro lattices. The surface roughness lies in the range of a few nanometers. This underlines the optical quality of 3D printed structures as demanded in microoptical applications. On the technological basis of Two-Photon Polymerization (2PP), simple, complex and even organic forms can thus be produced with print volumes of up to 100 cubic millimeters using automated 3D printing processes.
3D Microfabrication Solution Sets
Finding the right combination of hardware, software, and materials to start a 3D printing task can be time-costly and challenging. To streamline the printing processes, Nanoscribe develops and provides ready-to-use Microfabrication Solution Sets for their Photonic Professional GT2 3D printers. These sets are based on the most suitable combination of precision optics, a broad range of materials and sophisticated software recipes for specific applications and scales.
The field-proven sets are process-centered solutions developed to improve printing performance in different qualities. A straightforward 3D printing workflow paves the way from CAD model import to the final micro part. The tailor-made software solutions enable the preparation and execution of print jobs in just a few minutes. Depending on the required application, the recipe offers a set of optimized printing parameters such as layer spacing or print speed. Once the printing parameters are set, a preview of the design is available in 3D, users can even simulate the printing process in 3D. For real-time monitoring, an integrated live-view camera later shows the progress of the printing process. All these visualization tools facilitate the workflow significantly. Thus, 3D Microfabrication can drastically shorten design iteration cycles in a variety of applications and on a previously inaccessible scale.
About Nanoscribe
Nanoscribe GmbH develops and provides 3D printers for Microfabrication as well as photoresins and process solutions. Today´s market and technology leader for 3D printing in the nano- and micrometer scale was founded in 2007 as a spin-off of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT, Germany) and has evolved to a medium-sized company with more than 65 employees and a subsidiary in Shanghai (China). Worldwide, more than 1,500 scientists at top universities and pioneer companies benefit from Nanoscribe´s groundbreaking technology and award-winning solutions for 3D microfabrication.
Source: Nanoscribe GmbH
