3D Printing with Holograms to Speed Up the Process

A study conducted by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in collaboration with MIT, the University of Rochester and UC Berkley, demonstrates how the use of holograms in the 3D printing process can dramatically speed it up. 3D volumetric printing would be more effective than light-based methods. According to the researchers, the power of this process lies in the abandonment of the traditional “layer-by-layer” approach.

Hologram 3D printing had already made headlines with Daqri, who developed hologram-based 3D printing technology. It uses lasers to transform a photosensitive monomer into a solid plastic. As a continuation of this work, the LLNL conducted a study on this new process of additive manufacturing also called volumetric 3D printing.

Daqri’s 3D printing with holograms.

3D Printing with Holograms

3D volumetric printing works by directing multiple light beams at a central point in a large tank of photosensitive resin. The rays alone are not strong enough to 3D print resin. However, when they are combined on a single point, they generate enough energy to solidify the material and create the previously chosen shape, without going through the deposition of successive layers. In our case, the researchers used three lasers to make their parts.