It was called Stereolithograhy. It’s a form of 3D printing technology used for creating models, prototypes, patterns, and production parts in a layer-by-layer fashion using photochemical processes by which light causes chemical monomers and oligomers to cross-link together to form polymers. Those polymers then make up the body of a three-dimensional solid. Research in the area had been conducted during the 1970s and used in many manufacturing processes.
Now researchers at Tsinghua University in China have developed a new method called DISH (Digital Incoherent Synthesis of Holographic light fields) that can print complex millimeter-scale objects almost instantly. Instead of slowly building layer by layer, the system fires thousands of precisely patterned light images from multiple angles into a still vat of liquid resin. Where the light overlaps, the resin instantly hardens into a solid 3D object. The entire process takes just 0.6 seconds.
Traditional 3D printing has always been limited by speed and the need to move either the print head or the resin. This approach removes both constraints by using light itself as the sculptor. Because it can print directly into still liquid (and potentially onto living tissue), it opens new possibilities in bioprinting, medical devices, and rapid manufacturing.
If you’re interested, there’s an Open Source version of Computed Axial Lithography. Watch here.
🚨 CHINESE SCIENTISTS JUST INVENTED 3D PRINTING THAT CREATES OBJECTS IN 0.6 SECONDS USING ONLY LIGHT.
— TheNewPhysics (@CharlesMullins2) June 22, 2026
Researchers at Tsinghua University have developed a new method called DISH (Digital Incoherent Synthesis of Holographic light fields) that can print complex millimeter-scale… pic.twitter.com/Fkwr6XOzKC
More here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10114-5