To demonstrate the potential of a three-dimensional manufacturing technique, researchers from NEC Corp. of Tokyo, Himeji Institute of Technology of Himeji, Japan, and Seiko Instruments Inc. of Chiba, Japan, have constructed a wineglass with an external diameter of 2.75 µm. The technique promises to supplant 2-D photolithographic processes.

The researchers used a 10-nm-wide focused gallium-ion beam, steered with a computer-controlled electromagnetic deflection system, to build the object out of gas. The companies plan to increase research and development related to the technique, which has an accuracy of less than 100 nm, with hopes of applying it to the production of biosensors, nanoelectromechanical systems and nano-optics.