3D printing by direct laser writing tagged posts

3-dimensional microstructures can be written using a laser, erased, and rewritten. Credit: KIT

3D printing by direct laser writing produces micrometer-sized structures with precisely defined properties. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now developed a method to erase the ink used for 3D printing. In this way, the small structures of up to 100 nm in size can be erased and rewritten repeatedly. This development opens up many new applications of 3D fabrication in biology or materials sciences, for instance.

Direct laser writing means that a computer-controlled, focused laser beam generates the structure in a photoresist similar to a pen...