Researchers at MIT have unveiled a chip-based 3D printer small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, capable of fabricating solid objects in seconds using light alone. The device, developed by PhD candidate Sabrina Corsetti and her team in the Photonics and Electronics Research Group led by Professor Jelena Notaros, emits reconfigurable visible-light holograms into a resin well to produce customized shapes without any mechanical components. The system relies on a single millimeter-scale photonic chip and represents the first stereolithography-inspired 3D printer built entirely on silicon photonics.
The printer uses a beam-steering integrated optical phased array to direct light into a stationary resin, triggering photochemical reactions that solidify the material. Unlike traditional 3D printers that depend on motors, rails, and layer-by-layer extrusion, this chip-based approach eliminates moving parts entirely. The result is a compact, portable, and low-cost fabrication platform that could reshape how objects are created in fields ranging from medicine to defense. MIT researchers believe the technology could enable rapid prototyping in remote environments, on-demand manufacturing in constrained spaces, and new forms of biological manipulation.
Corsetti’s team also demonstrated a miniature optical “tractor beam” capable of capturing and moving biological particles using light alone. This chip-based tool allows researchers to manipulate DNA and cells without physical contact, reducing contamination risk in sensitive experiments. The broader research effort combines silicon photonics with photochemistry to push the boundaries of what light-based systems can achieve. The team’s next goal is to enable volumetric printing—creating full 3D objects in a single step using programmable holograms.
The innovation arrives amid growing interest in photonic chip design, a field that replaces electrical routing with light-based data transmission. Major firms including Nvidia and AMD are investing heavily in photonic infrastructure, and MIT’s work signals new possibilities for consumer-level applications. Corsetti’s chip-based printer is still in the proof-of-concept stage, but the underlying architecture has already demonstrated real-time fabrication of two-dimensional patterns and letters. Researchers expect future iterations to support full object generation with higher resolution and material diversity.
Sources
https://www.voxelmatters.com/advancing-pocket-sized-3d-printing-with-light-based-chips/
https://news.mit.edu/2025/sabrina-corsetti-explores-high-tech-wizardry-integrated-photonics-0702
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/mit-pocket-sized-3d-printer
