China has developed a three-dimensional holographic printer that fully prints models in less than a second

Chinese scientists have revolutionized 3‑D printing: an entire model is printed in half a second

Printing on ordinary 3‑D printers often takes hours, sometimes even a full day. Such duration makes additive technology unprofitable for mass production. Scientists from Tsinghua University published a result in *Nature* that changes this picture: they managed to print a fully complex object in just 0.6 s. The new method is called DISH – Digital Incoherent Synthesis of Holographic light fields.

How DISH works
* Discarding the mechanical platform

Instead of moving the part being printed or the nozzle system, DISH uses controlled light. Light immediately forms the entire volume of the model.

* Holographic projection

The system generates optimized digital holograms and simultaneously projects them from different directions into a photopolymer resin through a high‑speed rotating module. Thanks to computational optimization, an accurate 3‑D map of light intensity is obtained, which hardens only where needed.

* Independence from resin viscosity

Holograms allow uniform curing throughout the depth, not limited by the traditional projector depth of field.

Key metrics
Metric Value
Resolution across the entire model (up to 1 cm) 19 µm
Smallest detail 12 µm (~ 1/5 thickness of a human hair)
Printing speed ≈ 333 mm³/s
Print time for one model 0.6 s

In laboratory tests, complex millimetre‑scale objects and microstructures were created with high precision. The technology supports continuous resin feed, opening the way to mass production.

Potential applications
Field What can be done
Biomedicine Rapid modelling of tissues and vessels for drug testing
Robotics Manufacture of microrobots, flexible electronics
Photonics & MEMS Integration of components into photonic devices, smartphone camera modules
Other Creation of highly detailed 3‑D models for industrial design

What this means for the industry
The shift from mechanical layer‑by‑layer printing to volumetric light synthesis opens a new paradigm in 3‑D printing. Light becomes the primary fabrication tool, allowing the process to be significantly accelerated, accuracy increased, and mass production of complex microstructures made a reality.