Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Nanoscale 3D printing”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

8 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Grayscale projection two-photon lithography using sub-diffraction motifs for ultrafast and precise nanoscale 3D printing

Rapid and high-fidelity nanoscale 3D printing is highly desirable, but it is difficult due to the tradeoff between speed and accuracy. Although optical projection techniques can massively scale up printing, fidelity is compromised due to the difficulty in precisely controlling the light dosage over the entire field. This challenge is typically addressed by using multiple projections, but it slows down printing. Here, we present grayscale projection two-photon lithography to overcome this tradeoff. Despite using a binary mask, it enables projecting more than 15,000 focal spots, each with independently tunable intensity. It advantageously leverages constraints imposed by optical diffraction to achieve grayscale tuning over the entire field at once. By directly tuning the focal spot intensities, we demonstrate suppression of proximity effects, compensation of non-uniform illumination, compensation of stitching artefacts, and rapid 3D printing with a single femtosecond pulse per layer. We demonstrate printing of nanowires as thin as 55 nm and achieve rates of 1.7 billion voxels/s and 215 mm 3 /hr.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Tip-Induced 3D Printing on the Nanoscale with Field Emission Scanning Probes

3D printing down to the nanoscale remains a significant challenge. In this paper, the study explores the use of scanning probes that emit low-energy electrons (<100 eV) coupled with the localized injection and electron-induced decomposition of precursor molecules, for the precise localized deposition of 3D nanostructures. The experiments are performed inside the chamber of a scanning electron microscope (SEM), enabling the use of the in-built gas injector system (GIS) with gaseous naphthalene precursor for carbon deposition, as well as immediate inspection of the deposits by SEM. Substrate materials are planar fused silica with thin conductive coatings and non-planar copper wedges. After investigation of the deposition process parameters, various 2D and 3D carbon deposits are grown. Vertical nanowires several microns in length with a diameter <100 nm are achieved and 3D deposits with a high degree of nanoscale branching are also obtained, presumably due to a charging effect. High aspect ratio carbon nanostructures such as those demonstrated here can be employed as miniaturized electrodes or field emitters. The tip-based approach presented thus paves the way toward 3D nanoscale printing of various materials and functional nanostructures.

3D printing↗
DOE OSTI2026

Suppressing proximity effects during rapid serial two-photon lithography through tuning of reaction–diffusion kinetics

The ability of two-photon lithography (TPL) to print deterministic nanoporous 3D structures is highly valuable for many applications. However, it is challenging to print such structures rapidly due to the proximity effects that cause closely spaced features to enlarge and merge. A key challenge is the limited understanding of the origins and spatiotemporal dynamics of the long-range proximity effects that extend beyond the optical focal spot. Here, we empirically investigate these proximity effects in serial TPL using custom-made acrylate-based photoresists. We demonstrate that the complex spatiotemporal dynamics of the proximity effects can be explained through the kinetics of the reaction–diffusion photopolymerization mechanisms that underlie the curing process. Specifically, we show that the proximity effects arise due to comparable timescales of reaction and diffusion of oxygen. Furthermore, we demonstrate that long-range proximity effects can be suppressed by introducing phenolic inhibitors, which reduce oxygen consumption through non-inhibiting side reactions and promote faster termination of curing reactions. These insights enabled improving the linewidths from >400 to 260 nm during printing of nanoporous 3D woodpiles at scanning speeds of 50 mm s −1 . Thus, the knowledge generated here can be applied to deterministically tune the proximity effects and enable rapid printing of high-resolution nanoporous 3D structures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2014

NASA GSFC Strategic Nanotechnology Interests: Symposium on High‐Rate Nanoscale Printing for Devices and Structures

The seminars invitees include representatives from industry, nonprofit research facility and universities. The presentation provides an overview of the NASAGSFC locations, technical capabilities and applied nanotechnology interests. Initially presented are advances by the broader technological communities on current miniaturized multiscale advanced manufacturing and 3D printing products on the micro and macro scale. Briefly assessed is the potential of moving toward the nanoscale for possible space flight applications and challenges. Lastly, highlighted are GSFCs current successes in nano-technology developments and targeted future applications.

APPLIED NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Transforming nanoscale VO 2 (B) into a scalable sodium-ion electrode

The intermittent nature of renewable energies requires highly reliable grid-level energy storage approaches. A critical consideration in developing this technology is the areal capacity which determines battery performance and influences the cost of battery technology. Of related importance is finding new ways of developing scalable electrodes. In recent years, three-dimensional (3D) printing of conductive scaffolds has emerged as an alternative to overcome the scalability limitations of commercial tape cast electrodes. The research carried out in the current study demonstrates a successful scalability pathway for nanoscale VO 2 (B), a desirable cathode for sodium-ion batteries which has a nano-flower morphology with a crystallite size < 20 nm. By electrodepositing VO 2 (B) onto a graphene aerogel scaffold, we were able to achieve mass loading of over 100 mg·cm −2 and still possess an areal capacity of 10 mAh·cm −2 at a current density of 5 mA·cm −2 . Moreover, after 1000 cycles, these electrodes retained 75% to 80% of their initial capacity. Even at high loading levels, the electrodeposited VO 2 (B) exhibits pseudocapacitive material signatures such as a box-like voltammetry response, linear galvanostatic response, and no phase change upon lithiation. The scalability of the VO 2 (B) electrode is demonstrated in a series of experiments which show the areal capacity to scale upon increase in both mass loading and electrode thickness, with only small changes in specific capacity. Furthermore, this study establishes that nanoscale materials can be scaled up to achieve thick electrodes without compromising their electrochemical properties.

additive manufacturing↗
DOE OSTI2024

Additive manufacturing of multiscale NiFeMn multi-principal element alloys with tailored composition

Nanostructured multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs) have been explored as next-generation engineering materials due to unique mechanical and functional properties which have significant advantages over traditional dilute alloys. However, the practical applications of nanostructured MPEAs are still limited due to the lack of scalable processing approaches to prepare a large quantity of nanostructured MPEAs, as well as lack of an efficient pathway for high-throughput discovery of better functional nanostructured MPEAs within their vast compositional space. Here we tackle these challenges by presenting an integrated approach by combining direct-ink-writing-based additive manufacturing, solid-state sintering, and chemical dealloying to manufacture hierarchically porous MPEAs. The hierarchical structure is comprised of macro- and micro-scale pores introduced via extrusion printing and polymer decomposition during sintering, as well as nanoscale pores formed via chemical dealloying. The macro- and micro-scale pores allow efficient dealloying of a large mass of material as the diffusion length that the corroding medium must penetrate remains at the scale of the ligaments formed after sintering (∼10 μm), despite the large volume of the 3D-printed samples. In addition, this integrated approach enables versatile control of the alloy composition via precisely tuning the ratio of elemental powders in the starting ink, thus offering a pathway for high-throughput discovery of novel functional MPEAs. As a case study, multiscale macro/micro/nanoporous NiFeMn MPEAs with three different compositions were investigated as catalysts to reduce the overpotential of oxygen evolution reaction (OER), where NiFeMn-based electrocatalysts display composition-dependent performance such that the overpotential measured at a current of 0.5 A g −1 for OER increases in the order of Ni 58 Fe 29 Mn 13 ⩽ Ni 64 Fe 26 Mn 10 < Ni 76 Fe 18 Mn 6 . This introduced manufacturing process offers new opportunities for scalable fabrication and rapid screening of nanostructured multi-component complex alloys.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Fractional Skyrmion Tubes in Chiral‐Interfaced 3D Magnetic Nanowires

Magnetic skyrmions are chiral spin textures with rich physics and great potential for unconventional computing. Typically, skyrmions form in bulk crystals with reduced symmetry or ultrathin film multilayers involving heavy metals. Here, the formation of fractional Bloch skyrmion tubes at room temperature is demonstrated by 3D printing ferromagnetic double‐helix nanowires with two regions of opposite chirality. Using X‐ray microscopy and micromagnetic simulations, it is shown that the coexistence of vortex and anti‐parallel spin states induces the formation of fractional skyrmion tubes at zero magnetic fields, minimizing the energy cost of breaking the coupling between geometric and magnetic chirality. Control over zero‐field states is also demonstrated, including pure vortex, or mixed skyrmion‐vortex states, highlighting the magnetic reconfigurability of these 3D nanowires. This work shows how interfacing chiral geometries at the nanoscale can enable advanced forms of topological spintronics.

X-ray microscopy↗
DOE OSTI2025

Microscale Metal Additive Manufacturing by Solid‐State Impact Bonding of Shaped Thin Films

The deposition of device-grade inorganic materials is one key challenge toward the implementation of additive manufacturing (AM) in microfabrication, and to that end, a broad range of physico-chemical principles has been explored for 3D fabrication with micro- and nanoscale resolution. Yet, for metals, a process that achieves material quality rivalling that of established thin-film deposition methods, and at the same time, has the potential to combine high throughput production with a broad palette of processable materials, is still lacking. Here, the kinetic, solid-state bonding of metal thin films for the additive assembly of high-purity, high-density metals with micrometer-scale precision is introduced. Indirect laser ablation accelerates micrometer-thick gold films to hundreds of meters per second without their heating or ablation. Their subsequent impact on the substrate above a critical velocity forms a permanent, metallic bond in the solid state. Stacked layers are of high density (>99%). By defining thin-film layers with established lithographic methods prior to launch, a variable feature size (2–50 µm), arbitrary shape of bonded layers, and parallel transfer of up to 36 independent film units in a single shot, is demonstrated. Thus, the solid-state kinetic bonding principle as a viable and potentially versatile route for micro-scale AM of metals is established.

3D printing↗