DLi Micro Dives: 3DLP9000 Optics
The DLi Micro Dives series takes a closer look at the features and specifications of DLi’s products, including details about software, product setup, as well as optics & illumination. In this Micro Dive, we take a deeper look into the optics of the 3DLP9000 UV Light Engine, including the illumination block, main body and projection lens.
With access to 4 million pixel resolution in a DLP® light engine capable of 3D printing down to the 365nm range, researchers and developers using DLi’s 3DLP9000 .9″ WQXGA Light Engine can speed up their work like never before. The 3DLP9000, the first of the 3DLightPro family, is a high efficiency light engine designed specifically with the professional-grade DLP® 3D printer in mind. This unique light engine is easy to assemble and service while giving innovators access to the entire 3D printing UV spectrum. The 3DLP9000 is centered around the 4 million pixel 0.9” WQXGA 2560 x 1600 Type-A DMD, giving users the largest build area. The 3DLP9000 is compatible with the DLP® LightCrafter™ 9000 Software. The optics of the 3DLP9000 Light Engine can be categorized into 3 major sections. The first section of the 3DLP9000 is the illumination block, easily identifiable by the LED. This illumination block mounts onto the second section, the main body, which holds the DMD. The DMD steers the light into the third section of the light engine, the projection lens.
The illumination block places a uniform, or collimated beam of light on the DMD through the TIR prism. We offer the most common wavelengths for 3D printing – 365nm, 385nm and 405nm. However, the 3DLP9000 works between 365nm – 460nm. It currently uses LED, but the DLi team has plans to include fiber optics as well as lasers.
The main body pulls together all of the optics. The WQXGA DMD is mounted onto the main body. Inside the main body of the 3DLP9000 is the prism that steers the light on to and out from the DMD through the projection lens.
Our initial projection lens creates an image with pixel sizes 100µm +/- 25µm, with 0.1% distortion at 100µm and 90% uniformity. Different image sizes and adapters are in our future plans. The opening for the projection lens is compatible with SM2 Threading, giving the user the possibility to develop their own projection lens. SM3 Threading is located at the end of our projection lens, once again allowing the user to create adapters easily.
Click here to learn more about the 3DLP9000 Light Engine, or contact us at sales@dlinnovations.com to learn more about our upcoming optics options.
