Additive manufacturing (AM) is developing rapidly due to its flexibility in producing complex geometries and tailored material compositions. However, AM processes are characterized by intrinsic limitations concerning their resolution and surface finish, which are related to the layer‐by‐layer stacking process. Herein, a self‐organization process is promoted as an approach to improve surface quality and achieve optimization of 3D minimal surface lightweight structures. The self‐organization is activated after the powder bed 3D printing process via local melting, thereby allowing surface tension‐driven viscous flow. The surface roughness Ra (arithmetic average of the roughness profile) could be decreased by a factor of 1000 and transparent lenses and complex gyroid structures could be produced for demonstration. The concept of self‐organization is further elaborated by incorporating external magnetic fields to intentionally manipulate magnetic particles, which are mixed with the polymer before printing and self‐organization. This concept can be applied to develop programmable materials with specific microtextures responding to the external physical conditions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.