J. Saarinen
University of Eastern Finland,
Finland
Keywords: 3D printing, inkjet
Summary:
Inkjet based 3D printing enables printing milli/centimeter sized optics. With a fraction of time and cost (compared to traditional optics manufacturing), highly-complicated freeform optics is possible for illumination and even imaging applications. Like shifting from black-and-white to color printing, 3D printing a kind of freeform GRIN optics as well as fully integrated optoelectronics becomes possible. And applying wide format printing with an array of printheads enables competitive manufacturing of small and even middle sized volumes of optics and optoelectronics, but uniquely each one separately customized.