
The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) has invented the first 3D printing technology that is clear enough to be utilized in displays and augmented reality (AR) gadgets. Structured color, which can be seen in chameleons and peacock feathers, serves as inspiration for this technique.
This discovery was made by a KERI team lead by Dr. Jaeyeon Pyo, who used nanoscale 3D printing technology to produce a 3D diffraction grating. Light diffracts and alters its course when it comes into contact with a microstructure at the wavelength level. When the microstructure is well-ordered, some wavelengths of light will be strongly reflected, giving rise to different structural hues.
Without the need for dyes, KERI’s diffraction grating enables exact control of structural color. To do this, the light’s path through the grating is precisely controlled. KERI’s nanoscale 3D printing technology allows for the fabrication of high-density nanowire diffraction gratings using a novel method known as “lateral printing,” in which the 3D printing nozzle from the 3D printing technology travels in a sewing-like manner.
There is a wide range of potential uses for this 3D printing technology. The diffraction grating’s transparency makes it a promising candidate for usage in transparent displays in the near future, including smart windows, mirrors, and heads-up displays in vehicles. It is also applicable to augmented reality devices, where diffraction gratings play a vital role. The gratings’ capacity to emit changing colors depending on deformation also makes it applicable in mechanical engineering and biological research.
What the researchers of KERI has to say about the 3D printing technology?
Dr. Jaeyeon Pyo emphasized that this technique is able to overcome the constraints of material and shape restrictions, making it possible to incorporate structural color in spots of one’s choosing. It opens the door to the possibility of using a wide variety of forms in display devices.

This research conducted by KERI to make the 3D printing technology was deemed to be of such high quality that it was selected to serve as the featured article on the cover of ACS Nano, a leading publication in the field of materials science. The institution has finished the process of filing a patent application for the invention and anticipates that it will attract the attention of businesses associated to displays. They intend to facilitate the transfer of technology by locating businesses that stand to gain from this advancement in the industry with this 3D printing technology.
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The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, often known as KERI, is a research institute that is supported by the government and is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Science and ICT. KERI’s fundamental project on the development of 4D printing technology for circuit/housing integrated devices was the impetus for the research that was carried out as part of that project. At the University of Science and Technology (UST), Dr. Jaeyeon Pyo is now an adjunct associate professor.
Despite its intimidatingly technical name, meniscus-guided 3D printing is actually rather simple in practice. To begin, a meniscus is the curved edge generated by the tension between the liquid in a container and the liquid that has been poured onto a surface.
Second, a ‘femtoliter’ is a measurement equal to one-quadrillionth of a liter, emphasizing the most significant fact pertinent to this subfield of AM: the success of these approaches is due to their occurrence on the nanoscale. To deposit polymer ink onto surfaces including quartz, silicon, and platinum, the KERI team devised a technique that combines a nanopipette with direct ink writing (DIW) 3D printing.
The final displays were intended to have structural color, thus this research was conducted with that purpose in mind. In nature, structural color may be observed in phenomena like chameleon skin, where surface colors appear to shift as a result of how different light wavelengths interact with certain microstructures. For one, the goal of making a translucent final product necessitates the manipulation of color patterns without the use of dyes, and here is where 3D printing comes in.
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