Large-scale single crystals printed layer by layer

Rohrer, Gregory S.

3 min read Original article ↗
  • NEWS AND VIEWS

A 3D-printing method has made single crystals of metals and alloys in complex shapes and up to one metre in length, as needed for advanced technological applications.

By

  1. Gregory S. Rohrer

    1. Gregory S. Rohrer is in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA.

The dazzling gemstones used in jewellery are single crystals of minerals, prized for their beauty and uniformity. Single crystals of materials also have crucial functions in silicon microprocessors and jet-engine turbines. However, technological applications have been limited because such crystals are rare in nature and are difficult or expensive to make for most synthetic materials. The breakthrough reported in Nature by Liu et al.1 is therefore newsworthy: the authors have discovered a way to produce single crystals of metals in a wide range of shapes and sizes, including complex geometries that cannot be achieved by established crystal-growth methods. The method they used is a type of additive manufacturing — which means that it works like a 3D printer2 — and has the advantage of being implemented using readily available equipment.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-03257-y

References

  1. Liu, C. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-11185-0 (2026).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Fattah, R. N., Kusharjanta, B., Akbar, H. I. & Triyono Next Mater. 13, 103676 (2026).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Ueltzen, M. J. Cryst. Growth 135, 315–328 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Reed, R. C. in The Superalloys: Fundamentals and Applications Ch. 3 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Rohrer, G. S. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 94, 633–646 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Apetz, R. & van Bruggen, M. P. B. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 86, 480–486 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Luo, J., Cheng, H., Asl, K. M., Kiely, C. J. & Harmer, M. P. Science 333, 1730–1733 (2011).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Reed, R. C. in The Superalloys: Fundamentals and Applications Ch. 1. (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Jin, S. et al. Science 362, 1021–1025 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Related Articles

Subjects

Latest on: