DISH: The 0.6-Second Breakthrough in Holographic 3D Printing

A research team from Tsinghua University has unveiled a transformative technique for super-high-speed 3D printing. Published recently in Nature, the study details how the team can now print complex, millimetre-scale objects in as little as 0.6 seconds. The cornerstone of this advancement is a process called Digital Incoherent Synthesis of Holographic light fields (DISH).

Traditional 3D printing, even in 2026, often requires minutes to hours to produce highprecision shapes. Conventional Volumetric Additive Manufacturing (VAM) typically functions by rotating a vat of high-viscosity resin on a pedestal while projecting patterned light through the material at 360 degrees, curing the resin into a solid shape as it spins.

The difference with DISH technique is that, instead of spinning the material—which can cause structural instability, fluid-dynamic disturbances, or centrifugal distortion—it keeps the resin stationary. It utilises a highspeed rotating periscope that rotates at up to 10 rotations per second, projecting multi-angle light-field patterns around the material.