journal article·2025-10

Grayscale Digital Light Processing 3D Printed Microlens for Scale‐Down Self‐Focusing Printing

Lei Xu, Kunhao Wang, Haoyu Liu, Zihang Xia, Xiaobo Cao, Zhiling Yang, Tingting Yu

Small· Volume 21· Issue 43
Publisher page

Abstract

Abstract In modern micro/nano fabrication, 3D printing technology drives industry transformation. However, existing technologies face bottlenecks in improving process efficiency and precision, while also struggling to achieve accurate fabrication of composite 3D microstructures. This study proposes a microlens self‐focusing printing technique that integrates digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing with an optical microscope platform. By controlling image grayscale, microlenses with precise optical focusing capabilities are fabricated through millisecond‐level single‐exposure. Subsequently, without requiring additional hardware modifications, the self‐focusing property of microlenses enables pattern printing with a feature size below 4 µm. Furthermore, the study demonstrates the technology's advantage in the integrated fabrication of composites by successfully printing of tetrahedral magnetic microrobots, which exhibit dynamic motion control under external magnetic fields. This fabrication strategy provides a simple and versatile new approach for high‐precision microstructure fabrication.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Micro and Nano Robotics · Advanced Materials and Mechanics · Interactive and Immersive Displays

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Processing and Forming of Advanced Metallic Materials South China University of Technology Guangzhou 510640 China

Shien‐Ming Wu School of Intelligent Engineering South China University of Technology Guangzhou 511442 China

School of Mechanical Engineering Beijing Institute of Technology Beijing 100081 China

Institute for Super Robotics (Huangpu) Guangzhou 510700 China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities · South China University of Technology

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