Volumetric additive manufacturing has emerged as a promising technique for the flexible production of complex structures, with diverse applications in engineering, photonics and biology1,2. However, present methods still face a trade-off between resolution and volumetric build rate, restricting efficient and flexible production of high-resolution 3D structures. Here we propose a method, called digital incoherent synthesis of holographic light fields (DISH), to generate high-resolution 3D light distributions through continuous multi-angle projections with a high-speed rotating periscope without the requirement of sample rotation. The iterative optimization of the holograms for different angles in DISH maintains 19-μm printing resolution across the 1-cm range that is far beyond the depth of field of the objective and enables high-resolution in situ 3D printing of millimetre-scale objects within only 0.6 s. Acrylate materials in a range of viscosities are used to demonstrate the general compatibility of DISH. Integrating DISH with a fluid channel, we achieved mass production of complex and diverse 3D structures within low-viscosity materials, demonstrating its potential for broad applications in diverse fields. A new method is described that uses a periscope to generate high-speed, high-resolution projections of light fields, enabling sub-second volumetric 3D printing of millimetre-scale objects without rotating the sample.

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Researchers introduce DISH (Digital Incoherent Synthesis of Holographic light fields), a volumetric 3D printing method that achieves sub-second fabrication of millimetre-scale objects with 19-µm resolution. Instead of rotating the sample like traditional computed axial lithography (CAL), DISH uses a high-speed rotating periscope combined with a digital micromirror device (DMD) running at up to 17,000 Hz to project optimized holographic light patterns from multiple angles. A coarse-to-fine iterative wave-optics algorithm maintains high resolution across a 1-cm depth range — more than 20× the objective's depth of field. The system prints a full 3D object in 0.6 seconds, works with low-viscosity materials (as low as 4.7 cP), and integrates with a fluidic channel for continuous mass production of diverse structures. Compatibility is demonstrated across acrylate resins, hydrogels (PEGDA, GelMA, SilMA), and elastic materials, with applications in bioprinting, photonics, drug screening, and microfabrication.

Sub-second volumetric 3D printing by synthesis of holographic light fields