Researchers at the University of Oregon have developed a technique that could lead to the introduction of a new microscope for nanotechnology. The researchers have revealed a new pinhole-sized capillary that could distribute helium atoms with X-ray-like waves on asymmetrical surfaces and enable a non-invasive, high-resolution approach to examine both organic and inorganic substances. An abstract from the University’s home page:
Stephen Kevan, principal investigator, a physics professor at the University of Oregon stated:
The approach of using the wave nature of atoms goes back 100 years to the founding of quantum mechanics. Our goal is to make atomic de Broglie waves that have very smooth wave fronts, as in the case in laser light. Usually atom sources do not provide wave fronts that are aligned coherently, or nice and orderly.
The nozzle used in the experiments is similar to one on a garden hose. However, it utilizes a micron-sized glass capillary, borrowed from patch-clamp technology used in neuroscience. The capillary, smaller than a human hair, provides very small but bright-source atoms that can then be scattered from a surface. This distribution of scattered atoms is measured with high resolution using a field ionization detector.
This atom optical experiment would benefit from developing an ‘atom camera,’ that would measure the entire speckle pattern in one exposure.
Read
Read More..
