Slashdot Mirror
Scientists Scan Striking Nanoscale Images
BotnetZombie writes "Wired has up an article/gallery with very impressive images from the nanoworlds around us, and little stories for each picture. Besides giving an inspiring insight into the world of very little things, images of this kind can help scientists in many fields get a better handle on their subjects."
Notice how the scale on one of them says 470nm? Isn't that something in the neighborhood of green?Unreal!
(I think they may have faked the color.....)
Yeah, obviously you can't use light to generate images on this scale. This is one of the factors limiting the microelectronics industry, since they use photolithography, the minimum-feature size is limited by the wavelength of light being used. This is why they are interested in electron-beam, and x-ray lithography. Many of these images were generated using an AFM, which essentially scans a very fine tipped needle over the surface being imaged.
It's funny that people are saying these are photoshoped, since it is impossible to use visible light to image objects this small.
http://xkcd.com/331/
Perhaps this will help.
How we know is more important than what we know.
FTA - "Yang is currently working on the development of a nanoscale printing press."
and 'fine print' writers rejoice.