PFI-TT: Development and Commercialization of a Microscale Three-Dimentional (3D) Printer for Multi-materials

该创新技术转化伙伴关系（PFI-TT）项目的广泛影响/商业潜力在于解决制造小型设备以支持系统和产品小型化的快速增长的需求。越来越多的设备需要更小的设计和集成小型化的组件。由于与传统制造方法相关的高成本和缺乏高精度三维（3D）打印技术，对小型化设备的需求往往无法满足。提出的微纳米级3D打印技术有望更好地实现微型化，设计和制造不同行业的小部件，如医学、微电子、光学、生物传感器、航空航天、国防和高频通信。研究生将同时接触前沿研究和创业努力，这为未来的创新者和/或企业家提供了强大的培训机会。拟议的项目旨在开发和展示基于激光的微纳米印刷工艺的规模，目标是将该技术商业化。超快激光可以对纳米晶体进行非平衡加热，触发纳米晶体的自发和局部融合，从而3D打印微纳米结构。在这个项目中，将进行使用启发和应用研究，以提高印刷速度的数量级，以便可以根据潜在客户和基础科学家的各种需求进一步评估这项技术。拟议的微/纳米3D打印机将允许亚微米分辨率的直接金属打印和多材料打印。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is in addressing the rapidly growing need in manufacturing smaller devices to support miniaturization of systems and products. An increasing number of devices require smaller designs and incorporate miniaturized components. The demand for miniaturized devices is often unfulfilled due to the high costs associated with traditional manufacturing methods and the lack of high-precision three dimensional (3D) printing technology. The proposed micro- and nanoscale 3D printing technology is expected to better enable miniaturization and the design and manufacture of small components in different industries as diverse as medicine, microelectronics, optics, biosensors, aerospace, defense, and high-frequency communications. The graduate student will be simultaneously exposed to cutting-edge research and entrepreneurial endeavors, which provides a strong training opportunity for a future innovator and/or entrepreneur.The proposed project seeks to develop and demonstrate the scale-up of laser-based micro and nanoscale printing process with the goal of commercializing the technology. An ultrafast laser can be used to non-equilibrium heat nanocrystals, trigger the spontaneous and localized fusion of the nanocrystals, and 3D print micro/nanostructures. In this project, use-inspired and applied research will be performed to increase the printing rate by orders of magnitude such that the technique can be further evaluated against the various needs of potential customers and basic scientists alike. The proposed micro/nano 3D printer will allow direct metal printing with submicron resolution and multi-material printing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.