The vision of the Cluster initiative “3D Matter Made to Order” (3DMM2O) is to establish scalable digital 3D Additive Manufacturing reaching all the way from the molecular, via the nanometer and micrometer, to the macroscopic scale. This vision is nothing less than the ultimate digitization of 3D manufacturing and material processing. The approach transforms digital information into functional materials, devices, and systems “made to order”, at the push of a button by tabletop instruments. To create a powerful “technology push and pull”, 3DMM2O will treat molecular materials, technologies, and applications as indissolubly intertwined.
The 3DMM2O Cluster initiative takes advantage of the complementary strengths of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Heidelberg University (Uni HD) and builds on a long-standing strategic collaboration between the two universities, the Heidelberg Karlsruhe Research Partnership (HEiKA), as well as on several other coordinated collaborative projects. 3DMM2O involves principal investigators from chemistry, physical chemistry, physics, biophysics, biology, biomechanics, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering.
As an example, the above electron micrograph shows small pieces of different 3D semiconductor “metamaterials”. Metamaterials are rationally designed composites, which can completely alter the effective material properties with respect to the ingredient materials. We have transformed the digital blueprints for these chainmail-like structures into matter by state-of-the-art 3D laser nanoprinting.
