Engineers and scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), in collaboration with Stanford University, have developed a 3D nanofabrication technique that scales two-photon lithography (TPL) from a laboratory tool to wafer-scale production—retaining submicron precision while achieving throughput more than a thousand times faster than commercial systems.
The innovation, published in Nature, could accelerate manufacturing for advanced microdevices and metamaterials.
From Lab Technique to Scalable Manufacturing
Two-photon lithography has long been valued for its ability to produce nanoscale structures, but traditional systems were limited to small areas—typically a few hundred microns—due to reliance on microscope objectives. Scaling up required stitching thousands of tiles, a slow process prone to alignment errors, restricting TPL to research settings.
The LLNL-Stanford team replaced the microscope objective with a tiled array of metalenses, ultrathin optical elements that split a femtosecond laser into over 120,000 focal points. Each metalens acts as a miniature printer, writing simultaneously across centimeter-scale regions. By spacing focal spots according to the metalens layout rather than crowding them into a tiny field, the system avoids proximity effects that hindered previous multi-beam approaches.
“It means TPL finally has the potential for industry adoption,” said Songyun Gu, a postdoctoral researcher at LLNL and the first author on the paper. “Previously it was purely an experimental tool for researchers. With wafer-scale nanomanufacturing, we have the potential to make nanomaterials and microdevices the same way we make computer chips, which are highly complex but can be made in volume at very low unit cost. And meta-optics is exactly the solution.”
Adaptive Light Control Expands Design Possibilities
To print structures that are not fully periodic, the team integrated a spatial light modulator that dynamically adjusts the intensity of each focal spot in real time. This allows beams to switch on or off, control linewidths, and choreograph layer-by-layer patterns, enabling highly parallel fabrication of complex, stochastic structures.
“By dynamically switching the focal spots on and off and carefully planning the printing trajectory, we can actually print fully stochastic structures with a high degree of parallelization,” said Xiaoxing Xia, LLNL materials engineer and principal investigator. Using this approach, researchers even printed 16 different microscopic chess openings in a single run.
Named Adaptive Meta-Lithography, the platform allows the production of gradient-density laser targets, terahertz devices, microfluidic architectures, quantum information components, microelectronics, photonics, fusion energy targets, and biomedical microstructures—sometimes producing tens of millions of micro-particles per day.
Industry Potential and Future Outlook
The team views the combination of advanced optics and additive manufacturing as transformative for the field.“Light is the finest chisel on earth to craft functional materials and micro-architectures,” he said. “New ways to control light will revolutionize how to make materials,” Xia said.
As higher-power lasers, larger metalens wafers, and faster modulators become available, the team expects metalens TPL could produce even more complex devices at faster speeds, moving 3D nanomanufacturing toward mainstream, wafer-scale production.
The technology platform, named MetaLitho3D, recently received a 2025 R&D 100 Award, highlighting its potential for real-world industrial applications.
Lithography Reinvented Across Formats
The LLNL–Stanford MetaLitho3D breakthrough is part of a wider movement pushing lithography beyond traditional microelectronics and into full-spectrum additive manufacturing.
In 2022, BCN3D introduced Viscous Lithography Manufacturing (VLM), a resin-based 3D printing platform and the company’s first move into photopolymer technologies. Developed over three years, VLM enables dual-material printing and is designed to process extremely viscous resins—up to 50 times thicker than conventional SLA/DLP materials. Backed by a partnership with Arkema, the system supports advanced formulations such as Kepstan PEKK, enabling parts with as much as triple the impact resistance and double the tear strength compared to traditional resin prints.
In 2025, Azoth 3D adopted Incus’s Hammer Lab35 system, a lithography-based metal manufacturing (LMM) technology, to boost its production of small, high-resolution metal parts. The system uses a light-based process to selectively cure metal powder mixed with a photopolymer binder, enabling fine surface finishes and sharp feature detail. With Lead times as short as 5 to 7 days, Azoth 3D can now deliver complex components faster across industries with demanding geometries.
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Featured image shows Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), in collaboration with Stanford University, have developed a 3D nanofabrication technique. Image via LLNL.
