Dec 5, 2018 | By Thomas
Germany’s Nanoscribe, a company specializing in nano-, micro-, and meso-scale 3D printing, has introduced the Photonic Professional GT2 3D printer for high-resolution microfabrication and maskless lithography.
The filigree scaffold on the millimeter scale (7.5 x 7.5 x 3 mm³) with micrometer precision structural details
The Photonic Professional GT2 3D printer is the the successor model of the Photonic GT and features optimized hardware and software components as well as IP-Q printing material especially developed for larger volumes, high-resolution microstructures. The GT2 has an enlarged print chamber and can print parts up to a height of 8 mm.
"The extension of the maximum print volumes toward the macroscale was a great wish of our customers and project partners from industry," says Nanoscribe CEO Martin Hermatschweiler. "With this relaunch of our extremely successful generation of Photonic Professional devices, we have now succeeded in overcoming previous physical limitations and increasing the performance of the devices by a factor of up to 10 in terms of productivity and speed," adds Hermatschweiler.
Nanoscribe devices have been optimally suited to the additive production of nano and micro structures. Nanoscribe’s Photonic Professional GT 3D printer uses a process of two-photon polymerization (2PP) process to fabricate objects. The process involves directing a laser beam onto a photosensitive material in order to cure it. This process repeats layer by layer, enabling the creation of tiny 3D polymer structures and allowing users to achieve submicron features sizes of as little as 200 nanometers—the highest precision available within the range of a few millimeters.
On the other hand, the GT2 can now produce objects with submicrometer details from typically 160 nanometers up to the millimeter range on a printing area of up to 100x100 mm² in a very short time.
Depending on the desired size and resolution, users can choose from sets of objectives, substrates, materials, and automated processes tailored to their applications. The user-friendly 3D printing workflow enables the fabrication of individual elements with maximum shape accuracy and surface smoothness, meeting the requirements for microlenses in the smartphone industry or filigree scaffold structures in cell biology.
The new Photonic Professional GT2 3D printer is said to significantly shorten product development cycles, especially in cases where large-volume structures in the millimeter range are required, such as for microfluidic elements (filters or nozzles), lab-on-a-chip applications, or micro rapid prototyping.
Moreoever, in the field of sensor and actuator technology, various product components can now be printed quickly and precisely on MEMS components or silicon chips without further adjustment.
Photonic Professional GT2 systems also aims to open up new possibilities in the field of medical technology, such as the direct printing of micro-optics on glass fibers for minimally invasive endoscopes or the manufacture of microneedles for painless drug delivery through the skin.
Posted in 3D Printer
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