Engineers at the University of Texas at Austin are leading a collaborative research effort to develop a new 3D printing approach that could change how semiconductor chips and electronic packages are manufactured.
The method, known as Holographic Metasurface Nano-Lithography (HMNL), is designed to speed up production, improve design flexibility and reduce material waste in electronics manufacturing, according to the university.
The project brings together researchers from the University of Utah and industry partners, including Applied Materials, Bright Silicon Technologies, Electroninks, Northrop Grumman, NXP Semiconductors and Texas Microsintering.
The team has received a US$14.5 million grant from the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to advance the technology. The researchers say HMNL could support applications across consumer electronics, robotics, aerospace and defence.
“Our goal is to fundamentally change how electronics are packaged and manufactured,” said Michael Cullinan, an associate professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and the project’s lead investigator. “With HMNL, we can create complex, multimaterial structures in a single step, reducing production time from months to days.”
Traditional electronics manufacturing typically involves layering materials through multiple sequential steps, a process that can be time-consuming and generate significant waste.
The university said HMNL uses ultra-thin optical metasurfaces to encode detailed patterns that are transferred into a hybrid metal-polymer resin using light, allowing intricate three-dimensional structures to be formed simultaneously. Researchers noted the process can achieve feature sizes smaller than the width of a human hair.
As part of the project, the team has produced four prototype electronic packages, including a fan-out module for commercial devices, high-frequency and reconfigurable systems for defense applications, nonplanar packages designed for confined spaces, and so-called active packages that combine mechanical and electrical functions.
Cullinan said the work is intended to expand what is technically feasible in electronic design. “This isn’t just about making electronics faster or cheaper; it’s about unlocking new possibilities,” he said.
The researchers also noted that reducing the number of manufacturing steps could lower the environmental footprint of electronics production and enable faster prototyping.
The team said plans are underway to commercialise the technology through Texas Microsintering Inc, a startup founded by Cullinan, while the academic and industry partners continue to refine and evaluate the approach.
