April 21, 2004

Molecular Machine Shop

Very cool nanotechnology article. Hat tip to BoingBoing As published in the University of Michigan News Service: bq. Think of a microscopic milling machine, capable of cutting just about any material with better-than-laser precision, in 3-D---and at the nanometer scale. bq. In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of Michigan researchers explain how and why using a femtosecond pulsed laser enables extraordinarily precise nanomachining. The capabilities of the ultra-fast or ultra-short pulsed laser have significant implications for basic scientific research, and for practical applications in the nanotechnology industry. Very cool - the contender was Electron Beam Lithography but it needed special environment (high vacuum) as well as subsequent chemical processing to work. This works in STP and the results are immediate. Posted by DaveH at April 21, 2004 9:16 AM