In-situ material exchange
We rely on 2-photon 3D laser printing which is one of the highest resolving and yet fastest 3D printing methods, today. It uses light to convert liquid precursor materials into solid polymerized objects. It makes use of a physical effect occurring at very high laser intensities, where multiple photons are absorbed almost simultaneously to trigger the polymerization.
To enable multi-material printing, the printing materials have to be changed during the build-up of the print. We rely on the in-situ exchange of the active print material while both laser focus and substrate, potentially with already printed structures, will be kept in position. The in-situ exchange renders the material switchover to be fast. The constant position ensures high-precision overlay printing. Our printhead is independent of the chosen print substrate. Thus, the substrate selection becomes very flexible.
MergeOne Platform
Our MergeOne hardware bundle combines a fluid transport control system, the fluidic components for material exchange and the mechanical components for retrofitting to existing 2-photon printing systems. MergeOne is only available under the pilot customer program at the moment. The control software SCULPTOR will act as middleware for the 2-photon printing system and the MergeOne system.