Engineers at the University of Texas at Austin are working on a manufacturing process that more tightly integrates additive methods and lithography. The approach is called Holographic Metasurface Nano-Lithography (HMNL) and is intended to speed up the fabrication and packaging of electronics without adopting the usual, strictly sequential process chains of semiconductor manufacturing. The goal is to create 3D structures directly in places where planar layer stacks still dominate today.
At the technical core are metasurfaces as ultra-thin optical masks that encode information at high density. When exposed, they generate a hologram that cures and structures a hybrid resin matrix containing metal and polymer components into complex 3D geometries in a single pass. This shifts geometric freedom from a two-dimensional pattern to spatial, multi-material components. The research group cites resolutions below the width of a human hair, which is relevant for fine trace and interconnect structures in packaging.
“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, who is leading the team. “With HMNL, we can create complex, multimaterial structures in a single step, reducing production time from months to days.”
“This isn’t just about making electronics faster or cheaper; it’s about unlocking new possibilities,” said Cullinan.
As demonstrators, the team produced prototypes for fan-out packaging in consumer devices, for high-frequency communications and reconfigurable electronics, and for non-planar form factors that can be integrated into tight enclosures. Looking ahead, commercialization is expected to proceed via Texas Microsintering Inc., a startup founded by Cullinan.
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