Printing features smaller than a cell

How far is two-photon lithography from mass manufacturing of micro-optics and medical microstructures?

Two-photon lithography hardens a resin with a focused laser and can print three-dimensional features far smaller than the wavelength of the light. Nanoscribe launched a commercial system for micro-optics in 2019, and UpNano's NanoOne desktop printer is listed as installed at MIT.nano. Research groups have since shown parallel and projection writing, with reported speeds and feature sizes. The sources reviewed show these as laboratory demonstrations. None of them reports finished micro-optics or medical parts made in production volume. The main gaps are the supply of suitable resins, writing speed, and the cost of laser power.

AI illustration · Illustrative scene, not a photograph of the specific device or experiment.
WHERE WE AREPilots

Close. Early pilots are running in the real world.

Commercial two-photon systems have been on sale since 2019, and university facilities use them. Research papers show faster methods, but these are laboratory demonstrations. The sources reviewed do not show finished parts made in volume. A 2023 review calls the lack of suitable resins a bottleneck to the field, and it says that raster scanning of tiny voxels makes printing slow and unsuitable for mass production. The stage is pilot because systems are sold and used for prototyping, not because production has been shown. The sources reviewed do not cover metamaterial production, so that use is not assessed here.

The tech tree

Everything recorded on Vrulum that this future needs, oldest foundations at the top and the goal at the bottom. Lines show what each step requires.

What it takes: Printing features smaller than a cell Unlocked Being researched Locked
  1. 1997Two-photon lithography and nanoscale 3D printingResearch and prototypes Being researched.
  1. 1997Three-dimensional microstructures made by two-photon absorptionDone Unlocked.
  2. 2019Commercial two-photon systems for micro-opticsDone Unlocked.
  3. 2025Parallel projection writing with laser arraysIn progress Being researched.
  4. 2026Grayscale projection with fewer exposuresIn progress Being researched.
  5. Date not recordedSub-diffraction resolution in research resinsDone Unlocked.
  6. Date not recordedDesktop two-photon printer in a university facilityDone Unlocked.
  7. Date not recordedMicro-optics made in production volumeNot started Locked.
  8. Date not recordedMedical microstructures in clinical useNot started Locked.
  1. GoalPrinting features smaller than a cellGoalRequires: Two-photon lithography and nanoscale 3D printing, Three-dimensional microstructures made by two-photon absorption, Sub-diffraction resolution in research resins, Commercial two-photon systems for micro-optics, Desktop two-photon printer in a university facility, Parallel projection writing with laser arrays, Grayscale projection with fewer exposures, Micro-optics made in production volume, Medical microstructures in clinical use. Locked.

The road so far

4 of 8 steps done, 2 in progress.

  1. Done · 1997Three-dimensional microstructures made by two-photon absorption

    Maruo, Nakamura and Kawata reported three-dimensional microfabrication by photopolymerisation stimulated by two-photon absorption with a pulsed infrared laser, in Optics Letters. They reported several kinds of microstructure made from a resin of photoinitiators and urethane acrylate monomers and oligomers. [1]

  2. DoneSub-diffraction resolution in research resins

    The 2023 review by Jaiswal and colleagues cites features of about 120 nm with an acrylic resin, from Kawata and colleagues, and as small as about 15 nm with SCR500 resin, from Tan and colleagues in 2007. The review says resolution depends on the resin, laser power, scan speed and numerical aperture, so these figures do not describe every system. [3]

  3. Done · 25 Jun 2019Commercial two-photon systems for micro-optics

    Nanoscribe launched the Quantum X in 2019, which the company describes as the first industrial system based on two-photon grayscale lithography. Laser Focus World attributes its performance claims to the company and does not mention independent testing. The article gives no feature size, speed or throughput figures. [2]

  4. DoneDesktop two-photon printer in a university facility

    UpNano's NanoOne is listed as installed at MIT.nano. The listing gives a minimum horizontal feature size of at least 170 nm, a minimum vertical feature size of at least 550 nm, and throughput above 450 mm³ per hour. The listing is a university page, so these are not independently tested figures. [4]

  5. In progress · 17 Dec 2025Parallel projection writing with laser arrays

    In December 2025, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory published a release about a Nature paper that uses metalenses to split one femtosecond laser into more than 120,000 focal spots. The spots wrote structures at once over centimetre-scale areas, with features down to 113 nm. The laboratory says the throughput is more than a thousand times that of commercial systems, but its release does not state the conditions for that comparison. [5]

  6. In progress · May 2026Grayscale projection with fewer exposures

    Kim and Saha report grayscale projection two-photon lithography. The abstract says it projects more than 15,000 focal spots, each with independently tuned intensity, and prints nanowires as thin as 55 nm. The authors report rates of 1.7 billion voxels per second and 215 mm³ per hour. These are the authors' own figures and the abstract does not compare them with other printers. It does not give the resin, laser wavelength or exposure settings. [6]

  7. Not startedMicro-optics made in production volume

    The sources reviewed do not show two-photon printed micro-optics made in production runs. The 2023 review says that raster scanning of tiny voxels makes printing slow and unsuitable for mass production. [3]

  8. Not startedMedical microstructures in clinical use

    The 2023 review lists research examples: microneedles for drug delivery, cell scaffolds, antibacterial microcages and hydrogel microactuators. It notes that few biocompatible resins are available for two-photon printing. The sources reviewed show no clinical product made this way. [3]

Why it matters

Micro-optics, such as arrays of tiny lenses, and microstructures for medical and tissue research are the uses the sources name most often. Two-photon printing can write three-dimensional shapes from a design file without a mould. Whether it reaches factories depends on writing speed, resin supply and the cost of laser power, and the sources show that these are still open.

What stands in the way

  • Two-photon resins are scarce. The 2023 review describes the lack of suitable resins as a bottleneck to the growth of the technique.
  • Writing voxel by voxel is slow. Parallel and projection methods raise speed, but the sources show them only in laboratory work.
  • Feature size, speed and throughput depend on the resin, laser power, scan speed and numerical aperture, according to the 2023 review, so results from one setup may not carry over to another. The 2026 grayscale paper reports nanowires as thin as 55 nm and 215 mm³ per hour in its abstract, but its full text was not read.
  • Femtosecond laser power is costly, which limits how many focal spots can be written at once, according to the 2023 review.
  • Few resins are biocompatible, which limits medical uses. The sources reviewed show no clinical device made this way.
  • Throughput figures for commercial systems come from vendor claims and a university listing. Independent measurements on the same part are not in the sources reviewed.

Signals to watch

  • Independent throughput measurements for commercial two-photon systems, given on the same part with the resin and laser settings stated.
  • Peer-reviewed results for grayscale or projection printing across several resins and part sizes, including repeat work by groups other than the authors.
  • A biocompatible two-photon resin approved for use in a medical device.
  • A company reporting repeat production runs of two-photon printed micro-optics sold to customers.
  • Full-text review of the Kim and Saha paper, which was not read for this record.

Sources

  1. peer reviewed paper
    Three-dimensional microfabrication with two-photon-absorbed photopolymerization
    Shoji Maruo, Osamu Nakamura, Satoshi Kawata. Optics Letters, 1997.
  2. news
    At LASER World of Photonics, Nanoscribe launches Quantum X for microoptics fabrication
    John Wallace. Laser Focus World, 25 Jun 2019.
  3. review article
    Two decades of two-photon lithography: Materials science perspective for additive manufacturing of 2D/3D nano-microstructures
    Arun Jaiswal, Chandresh Kumar Rastogi, Sweta Rani et al.. iScience, 11 Mar 2023.
  4. other
    NanoOne 3D Printer from UpNano
    MIT.nano (Nanousers, MIT), 21 Oct 2026.
  5. university press release
    LLNL researchers break speed and scale barriers in 3D nanofabrication with new meta-optics platform
    Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 17 Dec 2025.
  6. other
    Grayscale projection two-photon lithography using sub-diffraction motifs for ultrafast and precise nanoscale 3D printing
    Harnjoo Kim, Sourabh K. Saha. Nature Communications (record held by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Scientific and Technical Information), 28 May 2026.

Last reviewed 21 Oct 2026.