Multi-material additive manufacturing provides a new route for fabricating components with tailored physical properties. Laser-based powder bed fusion (L-PBF), also known as selective laser melting, is a powder bed-based additive manufacturing technology. This technology affords the advantage of manufacturing metallic and non-metallic materials with high geometrical resolution. An emerging field relevant to the foregoing is multi-material L-PBF. This paper reviews the latest progress in this field including multiple material powder deposition mechanisms, molten pool behaviour, process characteristics of printing metal–metal, metal–ceramic, and metal–polymer multiple material components, and potential applications. Finally, scientific and technological challenges are presented.

Because of the small sizes of most viruses (typically 5–150 nm), standard optical microscopes, which have an optical diffraction limit of 200 nm, are not generally suitable for their direct observation. Electron microscopes usually require specimens to be placed under vacuum conditions, thus making them unsuitable for imaging live biological specimens in liquid environments. Indirect optical imaging of viruses has been made possible by the use of fluorescence optical microscopy that relies on the stimulated emission of light from the fluorescing specimens when they are excited with light of a specific wavelength, a process known as labeling or self-fluorescent emissions from certain organic materials. In this paper, we describe direct white-light optical imaging of 75-nm adenoviruses by submerged microsphere optical nanoscopy (SMON) without the use of fluorescent labeling or staining. The mechanism involved in the imaging is presented. Theoretical calculations of the imaging planes and the magnification factors have been verified by experimental results, with good agreement between theory and experiment.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is an emerging customized three-dimensional (3D) functional product fabrication technology. It provides a higher degree of design freedom, reduces manufacturing steps, cost and production cycles. However, existing metallic component 3D printing techniques are mainly for the manufacture of single material components. With the increasing commercial applications of AM technologies, the need for 3D printing of more than one type of dissimilar materials in a single component increases. Therefore, investigations on multi-material AM (MMAM) emerge over the past decade. Lasers are currently widely used for the AM of metallic components where high temperatures are involved. Here we report the progress and trend in laser-based macro- and micro-scale AM of multiple metallic components. The methods covered in this paper include laser powder bed fusion, laser powder directed energy deposition, and laser-induced forward transfer for MMAM applications. The principles and process/material characteristics are described. Potential applications and challenges are discussed. Finally, future research directions and prospects are proposed.

Production of functionally graded materials (FGMs, i.e., a gradual transition from one material to another) and components is challenging using conventional manufacturing techniques. Additive manufacturing (AM) provides a new opportunity for producing FGMs. However, current metal AM technologies including powder-bed fusion are limited to producing single material components or vertical FGM parts, i.e., a different material composition in different layers but not within the same layer, and in situ changing materials is challenging. In this paper, we demonstrate the fabrication of horizontal and 3D 316L/Cu10Sn components with FGM within the same layer and in different layers, via a proprietary multiple selective powder delivery array device incorporated into a selective laser melting system that allowed the deposition of up to six different materials point by point. The manufactured component macrostructure, microstructure, microhardness, and phases were examined. Smooth transition from one material to the other was realized. Also, an interesting phenomenon was found that the maximum hardness was at 50% 316L and 50% Cu10Sn. The work would open up a new opportunity for the manufacturing of true 3D functionally graded components using additive manufacturing and for the rapid development of new metal alloy systems.