Multiscale Additive Manufacturing of Metal Microstructures

Abstract

It is shown herein that the electrochemical metal printing system based on hollow atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevers for the local delivery of precursor species is capable of covering additive manufacturing at different length scales, from submicrometer to submillimeter, within the same printed object by dynamically adjusting printing parameters while keeping the same nozzle diameter. The interplay among the lateral voxel dimensions, nozzle aperture, and pressure is rationalized, while keeping other deposition parameters fixed. An accurate control of the voxel area over two orders of magnitude is achieved by modulation of the applied pressure including on‐the‐fly tailoring of the individual voxel size during printing with the same nozzle. Capabilities of this printing method are highlighted by fabrication of a helix of four copper wires in a layer‐by‐layer manner, whereby each wire is printed with a different diameter. A significant throughput increase is thus obtained by the careful adjustment of voxel dimensions for different features within the same object, allowing a higher fabrication speed for larger structures, while keeping a high enough spatial resolution for their delicate parts.