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Vienna-based UpNano has introduced 3D Adaptive Resolution (3DAR), a technology that shapes the printing voxel along the X, Y and Z axes during two-photon polymerization (2PP) 3D printing, so that it follows the geometry being built. The first 3DAR-capable printers have been purchased by an Asian company, which has expressed strong interest in acquiring additional systems.
UpNano has demonstrated surface roughness down to Sq 3 nm and shape accuracy below 20 nm with the technology. A spiral phase plate 125 µm in diameter prints in under ten seconds, and an aspheric lens measuring 7 µm takes two to three seconds.
From Switching Voxels to Shaping Them
In 2PP, finer resolution typically means longer build times for larger parts. UpNano has tackled this since launching its NanoOne printers with Adaptive Resolution, which changes the size of the voxel formed at the laser focus depending on the precision required. Until now, that meant alternating between a fine voxel for delicate features and a coarser one for filling bulk volumes quickly.
3DAR replaces that toggle with continuous control. The approach draws on grayscale lithography, a long-established technique that modulates voxel size to produce continuously varying height profiles. Grayscale lithography is limited to 2.5D topographies; UpNano applies the same principle inside its 2PP process, letting the voxel track freeform 3D shapes.
“3D Adaptive Resolution gives us dynamic control over the voxel in all three spatial dimensions,” said Bernhard Küenburg, CEO of UpNano. “We can continuously adapt its shape to the geometry we want to create. This allows us to combine printing speed with the surface quality required particularly for optical and photonic applications.”
Curved surfaces show the difference most clearly. Layer-based printing approximates a curve through stacked slices, leaving a staircase effect that can only be reduced by thinning layers and accepting longer build times. 3DAR keeps layer distances large and adjusts the voxel instead, eliminating staircasing without slowing production.
Optics Printed in Place
2PP can also print onto existing or pre-structured substrates. Micro-lenses, mirrors and other optical elements can be built directly on photonic chips, chip facets or fiber arrays, with automatic marker detection and alignment positioning each structure where it is needed.
That matters for semiconductor manufacturing and optical packaging. Silicon photonics and co-packaged optics rely on precise light coupling between chips, fibers and other components in confined spaces. Printing these elements in situ removes the need to manufacture them separately and then align and assemble them. UpNano points to AI data centers as a key driver: as computing power and energy demand grow, efficient fiber-to-chip and chip-to-chip connections allow large volumes of data to move with minimal signal loss.
From Lab Tool to Photonics Production Line
UpNano’s strategy with 3DAR is to remove the trade-off that has kept two-photon polymerization largely confined to research: either print fine and slow, or fast and rough. By shaping the voxel to the geometry instead of shrinking layers, the company is positioning 2PP as a production-ready process for optical parts, particularly lenses and mirrors printed directly onto chips and fibers for silicon photonics and co-packaged optics.
Competitors are seeing that industrial pull. German 2PP pioneer Nanoscribe reached the sale of its 400th system, reporting growing industrial demand for its Quantum X printers in optics and photonics packaging. The company said adoption is being driven by applications such as optical couplers on chips, fiber arrays and wafers, and expects photonics packaging to remain its main growth driver, supported by its integration into the nano- and microfabrication specialist Lab14 Group.
The field is also drawing in companies from the semiconductor lithography world. Multiphoton Optics introduced its MPO 100 two-photon polymerization printer for micro-optics, microfluidics and biomedical work. The system uses a green 522 nm laser suited to both organic and hybrid polymers, extending a parent company portfolio that already serves semiconductor, photonics and quantum computing applications.
As AI data centers push for faster, more efficient optical links, 2PP is shifting from a niche research tool toward a manufacturing step inside the photonics supply chain.
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Featured image shows 3DAR Explanation. Image via UpNano.
