Fastest ultra-high-resolution 3D printer

Using a technique known as two-photon lithography, researchers at the Vienna University of Technology, Austria, have developed a high-precision 3-D printer capable of producing nanometer-sized objects (in the shape of race cars, cathedrals and bridges, for example) in a matter of minutes. The high-precision 3-D printer works at up to 100 times the speed of similar devices. This speed is hoped to enable new applications in medical devices and implants. The super-fast nano-printer uses a liquid resin, which is hardened precisely by a laser beam. The focal point of the laser is guided through the resin by movable mirrors, leaving behind a hardened line of solid polymer just a few hundred nanometers wide. The result is a detailed sculpture measuring only a few hundred micrometers in length.