Micro 3-D Printer Makes Dust Mite Size Spacehip

As with most things, once a physical entity or concept has been produced there is always the 'need' to build one on the macro scale and on the micro scale. Here we have a 150-mm-long spaceship that was built by German's Nanoscribe GmbH using a 3-D laser photolithography printer. A scanning electron micrograph was needed to capture a picture of the model due to its smallness. It took about 50 seconds to create the model out of a photosensitive powder (a video captures the process). Of course the purpose of the exercise is not to be able to create spaceships the size of a dust mite, but to demonstrate the capability using an object that the public will be familiar with and impressed by. A micro-size 3-D model of a fountain pen just wouldn't cut it.

Posted February 2013

RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools" in an AOL screen name web space totaling 2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide me with ready access to commonly needed formulas and reference material while performing my work as an RF system and circuit design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet) was largely an unknown entity at the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity. Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps while tying up your telephone line, and a lady's voice announced "You've Got Mail" when a new message arrived...