en.Wedoany.com Reported - Researchers at the University of Utah have developed a 3D printing method that can shape an object in about 20 seconds, while other laser-based printing technologies may take hours. This method hardens the entire shape with a single laser exposure, rather than building it layer by layer. According to the researchers, it also avoids potential leaky seams between layers that can occur in traditional processes. The findings were published in Nature Communications.

The research was co-led by Rajesh Menon, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Utah's Price College of Engineering, lab member Dajun Lin, and co-author Brian Baker from the Utah Nanofab.

The method draws on lithography techniques and extends them into three dimensions. A laser passes through a photosensitive base material called SU-8, hardening the irradiated volume, while the remaining material is washed away. To keep the beam precise as it enters the material, the team built a nanoscale mask that compensates for the substrate's refraction of light, directing laser energy only to the target volume of the final shape.

Using this technique, the researchers fabricated microtube components with individual diameters as small as 6 micrometers, arranged in lattices with aspect ratios up to 120:1. These structures withstood compression tests and moved liquids through capillary action. They also demonstrated sequential printing of multiple shapes on a conveyor belt. Menon described the current output as "extended 2D" rather than true 3D, as the process only controls two-dimensional shapes while extending the third dimension as far as possible. The team is now working to advance the technology toward true three-dimensional control.