The story of NanoJesus: Combining 3D scanning and femtosecond laser nanolithography for the fabrication of the smallest nativity scene in the world

Abstract

The paper presents the technological aspects and a workflow of creation of the smallest Nativity Scene in the world. The “Nano Holy Family” sculpture took 3 months to produce. The team consisted of students and professors from two universities, business companies and governmental institutions. The sculpture was created in the following steps: scanning, model preparation and nano-fabrication. The scanning of all 15 figures of the holy family was performed using “Sense” V2 3D scanner. After the scanning all the figures were specified and corrected using Blender and Netfabb software. Finally, femtosecond laser based nano-3D printing took place, materializing the Nativity Scene in micro-scale. Because of unmatched precision of applied technology, the Baby Jesus is less than 23 µm high—it is smaller than an average human cell. The presented results show great synergy between 3D scanning and 3D laser nanolithography allowing to down-size to the micro- and nano-scale basically any structure that can be 3D scanned. The project was a result and great example of successful collaboration between business and academia bringing together the knowledge and expertise from academia and technologies from the industry.