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Additive manufacturing methods

Additive manufacturing enables the fabrication of three-dimensional structures directly from digital designs through layer-by-layer material deposition or polymerization. At PolyFabLab, additive manufacturing is primarily used for rapid prototyping, microfabrication, microfluidics, photonics, and advanced polymer device fabrication.

Currently, PolyFabLab offers two complementary additive manufacturing platforms:

Nanoscribe Quantum X align based on Two-Photon Polymerization (2PP) for ultra-high-resolution micro- and nanofabrication. Quantum X 2PP

Boston Micro Fabrication (BMF) microArch series based on Projection Micro Stereolithography (PµSL) for high-precision microscale 3D printing with larger build volumes and higher throughput. 3D Printer - BMF

The choice of equipment depends on the required feature size, build volume, material requirements, throughput, and alignment needs.

Comparion of Additive manufacturing methods

Parameter	Quantum X 2PP	3D Printer - BMF
Printing Principle	Laser-induced two-photon polymerization	UV projection stereolithography
Resoluation	Sub-micron to ~1 µm	2 µm - 10 µm optical resolution
Alignment Capability	Excellent; automated alignment to fibers, chips, wafers and fiducials	Limited
Surface Quality	Extremely high	High
Main Strength	Highest resolution and alignment accuracy	Highest throughput and larger parts