Sub-second volumetric 3D printing by synthesis of holographic light fields.

Wang, Xukang; Ma, Yuanzhu; Niu, Yihan; Xiong, Bo; Zhang, Anke; Zhang, Guoxun; Chen, Yifan; Wei, Wei et al. · Nature · 2026

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Volumetric additive manufacturing has emerged as a promising technique for the flexible production of complex structures, with diverse applications in engineering, photonics and biology<sup>1,2</sup>. However, present methods still face a trade-off between resolution and volumetric build rate, restricting efficient and flexible production of high-resolution 3D structures. Here we propose a method, called digital incoherent synthesis of holographic light fields (DISH), to generate high-resolution 3D light distributions through continuous multi-angle projections with a high-speed rotating periscope without the requirement of sample rotation. The iterative optimization of the holograms for different angles in DISH maintains 19-μm printing resolution across the 1-cm range that is far beyond the depth of field of the objective and enables high-resolution in situ 3D printing of millimetre-scale objects within only 0.6 s. Acrylate materials in a range of viscosities are used to demonstrate the general compatibility of DISH. Integrating DISH with a fluid channel, we achieved mass production of complex and diverse 3D structures within low-viscosity materials, demonstrating its potential for broad applications in diverse fields.