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Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

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This New 3D Printing Technology Creates Strong Objects in Just 20 Seconds & It Could Change Manufacturing Forever

Imagine creating a complex 3D object in just 20 seconds instead of waiting for hours. That futuristic idea is now becoming reality thanks to researchers at the University of Utah. Their newly developed 3D printing technology uses a special holographic laser system to create solid objects in a single step, eliminating one of the biggest problems of traditional 3D printing—weak seams between layers.

The breakthrough could lead to stronger medical devices, tiny electronics, advanced sensors, and faster manufacturing methods in the future.

A New Way to Print in 3D

Most 3D printers work by building an object one thin layer at a time. While this method has made manufacturing more affordable and flexible, it comes with some major drawbacks.

Layer-by-layer printing is slow and often leaves tiny seams where each layer meets the next. These seams can weaken the finished object, especially when it is placed under stress.

Researchers at the University of Utah have developed an entirely different approach. Instead of stacking hundreds or thousands of layers, they use a specially designed laser system that hardens an entire structure all at once.

The whole printing process takes only about 20 seconds, compared to several hours required by many laser-based 3D printing techniques.

Inspired by Chip Manufacturing

The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, was led by Rajesh Menon, a professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, together with researcher Dajun Lin.

Their technique is inspired by photolithography, the manufacturing process commonly used to create computer chips.

In traditional photolithography, a flat surface is coated with a light-sensitive material. A laser shines through a mask that blocks certain areas while allowing light to reach others. Only the exposed regions harden, while the rest can be washed away.

This method works extremely well for creating two-dimensional patterns, but extending it into three dimensions has always been much more difficult.

The Challenge of Printing Inside a Material

Creating a true 3D object means the laser must travel through the material rather than simply hitting its surface.

Unfortunately, the material is not perfectly transparent. As light moves through it, it bends and scatters slightly. This effect causes the laser image to blur, making it difficult to produce sharp and accurate structures.

Even small distortions can ruin delicate microscopic designs.

Solving this problem became the key challenge for the research team.

A Tiny Mask with a Big Job

The researchers developed an incredibly small nanopatterned mask that acts like a sophisticated optical lens.

Instead of simply blocking light, the mask carefully difures and redirects the laser into a holographic light pattern.

This hologram delivers laser energy only to the exact regions that need to harden.

As a result, the printer solidifies the desired structure in one single exposure rather than building it piece by piece.

The system effectively compensates for the light distortion that normally occurs inside the material, allowing highly accurate printing.

Like Cutting Cookie Dough

Professor Rajesh Menon compared the process to baking cookies.

He explained that the mask works like a cookie cutter, stamping a complex design into thick dough. At the same time, the laser "bakes" the inside of that dough, making the final object strong and durable.

This simple comparison helps explain why the process is both fast and mechanically robust.

Unlike conventional printers that repeatedly add thin layers, this approach creates the complete internal structure almost instantly.

Printing Tiny Structures

To demonstrate the technology, the researchers printed several highly detailed microscopic structures.

One of their biggest achievements was producing microtubule assemblies with individual tube diameters as small as 6 micrometers.

For comparison, a human hair is roughly 70 micrometers thick, making these printed tubes more than ten times thinner than a strand of hair.

The printed structures also achieved dimensional ratios of up to 120:1, meaning they were extremely long compared to their width while maintaining excellent precision.

Strong Enough for Real Applications

Printing quickly is only useful if the finished objects are strong.

To test this, the team performed several mechanical compression experiments on their printed microstructures.

The results showed that the tiny lattice-like structures could withstand significant pressure without collapsing.

This demonstrates that the single-shot printing method creates physically tough objects despite being produced in only seconds.

Removing layer boundaries also helps reduce weak points that often appear in conventionally printed parts.

Moving Liquids Without Pumps

The researchers also tested another important property of their printed microtubules.

They discovered that the tiny channels could transport liquid through capillary action.

Capillary action is the same natural phenomenon that allows water to travel through plant stems or soak into a paper towel without using a pump.

This ability could make the technology useful for tiny medical devices, lab-on-a-chip systems, chemical sensors, and microfluidic applications where liquids must move through microscopic channels.

What Material Does It Use?

The printing process uses a material called SU-8, which is already widely used in photolithography.

SU-8 consists of long polymer chains that harden when exposed to laser light.

After exposure, the unhardened material is simply washed away, leaving behind only the finished structure.

Because SU-8 is already common in microfabrication, integrating this printing technique into existing manufacturing processes may become easier than developing an entirely new material.

Not Yet Full 3D Printing

Although the technology represents a major breakthrough, it still has limitations.

Professor Menon describes the current method as "extended 2D" rather than complete 3D printing.

The researchers can precisely control the object's length and width while extending that design into the third dimension. However, they cannot yet independently control every point throughout the object's entire volume.

Even with this limitation, the technique is ideal for producing highly detailed lattice structures and microscopic tubes.

What Could This Mean for the Future?

Fast, seamless 3D printing could open the door to entirely new manufacturing possibilities.

Potential applications include:

  • Medical implants with stronger microscopic structures.

  • Microfluidic devices for disease testing.

  • Advanced sensors.

  • Tiny optical components.

  • Miniature robotics.

  • Next-generation electronic manufacturing.

Because each object is created in a single laser exposure, factories could eventually produce microscopic parts much faster than today's methods.

The researchers have also demonstrated that multiple objects can be printed continuously in a conveyor-belt style process, suggesting the technology could scale well for industrial production.

Looking Ahead

The team is now focused on taking the next step—developing a system capable of true three-dimensional printing with complete control over every part of an object's internal geometry.

If they succeed, future 3D printers may no longer spend hours building objects layer by layer. Instead, they could create strong, highly detailed structures almost instantly using carefully shaped holographic laser light.

While more work remains, this breakthrough represents a major advance in high-speed manufacturing. By combining ideas from chip fabrication with innovative optical engineering, researchers have shown that the future of 3D printing may be faster, stronger, and far more precise than ever before.

Reference: Lin, D., Baker, B. & Menon, R. Single-exposure holographic lithography of ultra-high aspect-ratio microstructures. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73975-4

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