Eliminating striations in volumetric additive manufacturing via low-temperature processing

Volumetric additive manufacturing (VAM) enables one-step, layer-free fabrication of 3D parts by spatially controlling energy–matter interactions within a photosensitive resin. While VAM is faster than conventional layer-based printing and well suited for complex geometries, wider adoption is limited by coupling between exothermic curing and non-uniform light fields. This interaction degrades surface finish and dimensional accuracy, reducing mechanical and functional performance. Herein, we propose a low-temperature assisted VAM (L-VAM) strategy that tunes resin viscosity via precise temperature–reaction coupling. By stabilizing material flow and mitigating uneven thermal gradients and irradiance disparities, L-VAM suppresses defect formation associated with spatially varying fluidity and heating. Experiments show that an optimized L-VAM process significantly improves dimensional stability and surface quality, delivering a 65.3% reduction in surface roughness compared with conventional VAM. These improvements establish the proposed L-VAM strategy as particularly suitable for high-precision applications including micro-optics and soft robotics.