---
title: "EPFL team makes 70x efficiency gain in holographic volumetric 3D printing"
url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/epfl-70x-efficiency-gain-holographic-volumetric-3d-printing/
date: 2026-05-25
modified: 2026-05-25
lang: en
author: "Joseph Caron-Dawe"
description: "Researchers at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) have developed a volumetric 3D printing platform that it claims is 70 times more energy-efficient than previous techniques. The system uses..."
categories:
  - "Bioprinting"
  - "Research & Education"
tags:
  - "future"
image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/EPFL-holographic-volumetric-3D-printing-01-640x400.jpg
word_count: 446
---

# EPFL team makes 70x efficiency gain in holographic volumetric 3D printing

[Researchers at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/epfl-develops-3d-printable-bone-scaffold-using-enzyme-driven-mineralization/) have developed a volumetric 3D printing platform that it claims is 70 times more energy-efficient than previous techniques. The system uses holographically shaped laser light to fabricate tissue-like structures at near-clinical scales.

![EPFL team makes 70x efficiency gain in holographic volumetric 3D printing](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/EPFL-holographic-volumetric-3D-printing-05-340x340.jpg)

The work builds on [tomographic volumetric additive manufacturing (TVAM)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/researchers-advance-tomographic-volumetric-am-tvam/), a process in which laser light hardens a rotating vial of photosensitive resin into a target geometry. Earlier holographic approaches improved on conventional TVAM by encoding 3D shapes through the phase (the alignment of light waves) rather than amplitude, or brightness. This preserved more of the laser's usable power.

The EPFL team's Laboratory of Applied Photonic Devices (LAPD) has now taken that further by introducing a device that directly controls the phase of a light beam within a volumetric printing system. The research team stated that this capability had not previously been demonstrated in this context

Using a 150-milliwatt laser diode, the platform solidified millimeter-scale objects within seconds and centimeter-scale objects within minutes.

## Printing through living cells

The scattering of light by biological media has always caused issues in bioprinting, leading to a degradation in print quality. The LAPD platform addresses this through self-healing beams, which are a property of phase-controlled holographic projection that maintains resolution even in light-scattering environments such as cell-laden resins.

“Our method's demonstrated efficiency and precision finally makes it possible to bioprint tissue-like structures at near-clinical scale,” stated Christophe Moser, Head of the Laboratory of Applied Photonic Devices at EPFL.

“We have printed structures substantially larger than those achieved with previous holographic approaches, despite increased light scattering caused by the embedded cells.”

[![EPFL team makes 70x efficiency gain in holographic volumetric 3D printing](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/EPFL-holographic-volumetric-3D-printing-02-640x400.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/EPFL-holographic-volumetric-3D-printing-02.jpg)

[![EPFL team makes 70x efficiency gain in holographic volumetric 3D printing](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/EPFL-holographic-volumetric-3D-printing-03-640x400.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/EPFL-holographic-volumetric-3D-printing-03.jpg)

[![EPFL team makes 70x efficiency gain in holographic volumetric 3D printing](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/EPFL-holographic-volumetric-3D-printing-04-640x400.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/EPFL-holographic-volumetric-3D-printing-04.jpg)

In experimental tests, the team printed a life-sized human ear in a gelatin-based resin. In a separate construct measuring 64 cubic millimeters, embedded living cells remained viable after six days and had formed organized networks. The researchers also combined the light engine with a speckle-reduction strategy to address random light interference that can produce grainy surface finishes.

“Our approach brings volumetric printing closer to real-scale implants, and biologically compatible manufacturing using low-power laser sources,” said Maria Alvarez-Castaño, Lead Author of the study – [published in *Light: Science & Applications*](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41377-026-02331-4) – and PhD Student at EPFL's Laboratory of Applied Photonic Devices.

Future work will focus on improving projection fidelity and studying the limits of beam shaping in high cell-density bioresins, said the research team. Forthcoming work is also expected to address printing directly onto or around existing objects and more accurate microscale geometry formation through predictive resin chemistry modeling. 

The researchers also reported progress toward a static holographic printing method that projects onto a stationary vial without rotation. Such an advance would further simplify the TVAM process.