3D Printing of Metals with sub-10 µm Resolution

The ability to manufacture 3D metallic architectures with microscale resolution is greatly pursued because of their diverse applications in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) including microelectronics, mechanical metamaterials, and biomedical devices. However, the well-developed photolithography and emerging metal additive manufacturing technologies have limited abilities in manufacturing micro-scaled metallic structures with freeform 3D geometries. Here, for the first time, the high-fidelity fabrication of arbitrary metallic motifs with sub-10 µm resolution is achieved by employing an embedded-writing embedded-sintering (EWES) process. A paraffin wax-based supporting matrix with high thermal stability is developed, which permits the printed silver nanoparticle ink to be pre-sintered at 175 °C to form metallic green bodies. Via carefully regulating the matrix components, the printing resolution is tuned down to ≈7 µm. The green bodies are then embedded in a supporting salt bath and further sintered to realize freeform 3D silver motifs with great structure fidelity. 3D printing of various micro-scaled silver architectures is demonstrated such as micro-spring arrays, BCC lattices, horn antenna, and rotatable windmills. This method can be extended to the high-fidelity 3D printing of other metals and metal oxides which require high-temperature sintering, providing the pathways toward the design and fabrication of 3D MEMS with complex geometries and functions.