Micro and nanoscale 3D printing using optical pickup unit from a gaming console

Abstract

Conventional photopolymerization-based 3D printing still requires developing a concise and cost-effective method to improve the printing resolution at the nanoscale. Here, we propose the use of a gaming console optical drive pickup unit for 3D photopolymerization. This mass-produced optical pickup unit features a finely adjustable diode laser, allowing us to adjust the printing resolution from tens of micrometres down to hundreds of nanometres without requiring oxygen radical scavenging or costly femtosecond lasers. We evaluate the 3D printing performance using a commercial photopolymer under different laser exposure parameters. The proposed printing system achieves a resolution of 385 nm along the lateral direction and XYZ nano-resolution linear stages enable a printing volume of up to 50 × 50 × 25 mm3. Finally, we demonstrate the fabrication of 3D stereoscopic microstructures. The substantially simplified optics proposed here paves the way for affordable high-resolution micro/nanoscale 3D fabrication.

3D‐Printed Radiopaque Microdevices with Enhanced Mucoadhesive Geometry for Oral Drug Delivery

“…The three design concepts were realized using the custom‐built micro‐ and nanoscale 3D printer. [ 27 ] The 3D printer cured the biocompatible photopolymer to produce 100 microcontainers in a 10 × 10 matrix on a silicon chip (Figure 2B,C). The neutral microcontainers were fabricated with an inner cavity for drug loading, which appeared clean and without residual photopolymer in the cavities after a washing procedure (Figure 2D).…”

Open-source force analyzer with broad sensing range based on an optical pickup unit

“…Furthermore, the low-cost OPU can achieve nano-meter displacement sensitivity from 0.1 Hz to MHz signal bandwidth. OPUs have been successfully utilized for various applications, such as AFMs [14] , [15] , [16] , stereolithography 3D printing [17] , photolithography [18] , and biosensing [19] .…”

Invitro biocompatibility evaluation of a heat‐resistant 3D printing material for use in customized cell culture devices

“…In addition, product development processes benefit from rapid prototyping due to the high degree of customizability of the design. There are multiple different additive manufacturing technologies, such as Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), Stereolithography (SLA), MultiJet Printing (MJP), Two‐Photon Polymerization, and many more [ 1 ], some of them with printing resolutions down to the micro‐ to nanometer scale [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Furthermore, diverse materials (e.g., polymers [ 5 ], silicones [ 6 ], ceramics [ 7 ], or even metals [ 8 ]) can be printed, enabling products that are translucent, flexible, highly stable, or conductive.…”