New Type of Atomic Microscope On the Way

Iddo Genuth writes "Researchers at the Surface Science Laboratory at Universidad Autonoma de Madrid have created an ultrasmooth mirror that could be used to create a revolutionary new atomic microscope within the next several years. The new atomic microscope — using helium atoms for imaging — has the potential to provide the same resolution as existing electron microscopes but without many of the problems which have plagued them for years."

Comments

Wait.... aren't we out of helium?

[zappepcs]

http://mailman.mcmaster.ca/mailman/private/cdn-nucl-l/0712/msg00004.html or did we find more to use in microscopes and other things, like balloons?

Re:Wait.... aren't we out of helium?

[pushing-robot]

Well, there's still lots of it underground, and higher prices usually lead to improved recovery methods.

Or it could all be coming from the secret Fusion plants operated by Illuminati, Men in Black, and the Easter Bunny.

Re:Wait.... aren't we out of helium?

[lysergic.acid]

i can see it now... millions of children sulking at birthday parties, lifeless balloons trailing behind them on the ground--like so many ball and chains.

will somebody please thing of the children?

Re:Wait.... aren't we out of helium?

[Anonymous Coward]

I use a tactic taught to me by squirrels. I steal helium balloons from children, shove them in my mouth and then try to stuff the gas in a hole I dug in the ground. I haven't tried to recover any yet, but I am certain this is the way to go.

Re:Wait.... aren't we out of helium?

[lysergic.acid]

how the hell is this flamebait? the moderator needs to get a sense of humor (or learn what flamebait is).

Re:Wait.... aren't we out of helium?

[evilviper]

or did we find more to use in microscopes and other things, like balloons?

Birthday parties and weddings are MUCH more exciting with hydrogen-filled balloons.

Already done

[Firehed]

My father has been working with Helium Ion Microscopes for a few years now - not the same as helium atoms of course, but the goals are the same (avoiding damage to the sample, improved resolution, firing a single concentrated beam of atoms instead of spewing electrons, etc). And they're... beta. Improving, but decidedly beta.

Re:Already done

[malvidin]

I thought that electron microscopes would be more beta, while helium ion microscopes would be more alpha.

Re:Already done

[kaneod]

It's not already done at all - the techniques are quite distinct, they just have the word helium in them. All the work on helium ion microscopes I've seen uses ions well into the kV range. The resolution is definitely improved...but you're still firing things at a surface with thousands of times more energy than a chemical bond, and helium ions have a lot more mass than electrons. What does spewing electrons even mean anyway? They get focussed the same way as helium ions, after all...
The neutral atom microscope projects work with beams in the meV (that's *milli* eV) range. The atoms rebound a few angstroms from the 'surface', the beam is produced using a supersonic free jet expansion, the focussing is done differently...it's a completely different microscopy technique.

Re:Already done

[deglr6328]

Presumably then this new meV He microscope will use neutral atoms? If so, I don't understand how they could image a surface at very high resolution. I know the corresponding DeBroglie wavelength of a beam of He must be very small indeed, but the actual physical size of the He atoms surely must be larger than the current sub-angstrom limit of monochromatic spherical-abberation corrected e microscopes no? So then what am I missing? What's the benefit here. You seem clueful, can you or the parent tell us more about this new low energy He beam stuff?

Re:Already done

[kaneod]

Yep, the idea is to use neutral atoms. Actually people tend to get a bit hung up on the resolution issue - it is true that it is an absolute pain to both focus and detect neutral helium, and other microscopies offer better ultimate resolution.
However, what things like helium ion microscopy and scanning electron microscopy don't offer is absolute surface sensitivity, with almost no damage. An SEM can only be used with conducting samples (yes, you can gold or graphite coat stuff but if you're interested in the surface you're still stuffed) and the beam penetrates a good 30-100 atomic layers so the *surface* resolution is quite limited. Helium ion microscopy is better in that regard but still penetrates quite a few atomic layers and will still damage the surface.
In short, if you're interested in delicate or reactive surfaces, neutral helium is probably the only way to go. The initial resolution won't be great (I believe they're still aiming initially for sub-optical, rather than atomic ;o) ) but that's not really the point.

Re:Already done

[deglr6328]

I seeeeee! many thanks.

Re:Atomic Microscopes: An Abomination unto G-d?

[Normal Dan]

I like your optimistic point of view. Like you, I too hope one day this can become a reality. Everyone getting along and not being afraid to be who they are. That would be so nice.

*sigh* one can only dream...

I did this 14 years ago

[Auckerman]

This isn't a new type of microscope, this is actually kind of old. I was working in a lab doing this as an undergrad in 94. It really only works with very smooth (as in atomic level smooth) crystalline structures. You can build 3-d data, that's for sure, but only by growing them and watching them build as you shoot helium at it (via rotating the mirror and watching the diffraction). Purely surface chemistry "simple" crystals. Unless for things like protein structures, where X-ray is the way to go.

What these guys did was merely figure out a way to reflect helium better, so you get more exact data the first time around, rather than having to run the same test over and over and doing averages to get rid of the noise. Good for science, sure, but hardly a new microscope.

Does this mean

[i_liek_turtles]

...that the bacteria will have high-pitched voices?

Pardon my ignorance but...

[kmarshallbanana]

What exactly are the problems that have plagued electron microscopes for years?

Re:Pardon my ignorance but...

[upside]

Ignorance is OK. Not reading the article before posting is ... Slashdot.

Here, let me help you:

The high speed electrons used in the electron microscope <nah nah nah> making it difficult to get accurate results and impossible to repeat tests.

Sweet

[mqduck]

has the potential to provide the same resolution as existing electron microscopes but without many of the problems which have plagued them for years

YES! Finally!!!

Cambridge Group Has Better Description

[kandela]

The group working at Cambridge has a detailed description: http://www-sp.phy.cam.ac.uk/research/mirror.php3 I was a little surprised to read this as being new. Although the He microscope, as it is envisioned, has not yet been built, the Cambridge group has been working on the idea for a while. I'm not sure how much of an improvement the techniques of the group in the story are - for producing flat mirrors - than what is already being used at Cambridge. The Si surfaces they use are already pretty flat. As far as I understood it the most critical area for development was the detector.