When chemist Fraser Stoddart recently celebrated his 65th birthday at “The Young(ish) Giants of Chemistry” conference in Edinburgh, UK, he might have been surprised to discover that one of his gifts was an original portrait of himself. However, this wasn’t any normal portrait - this was a portrait so small you need a microscope to see it! The 20 micrometre-sized work of art was produced by Chad Mirkin of Northwestern University, Illinois, using a technique he developed known as Dip-Pen Nanolithography. This technique uses an atomic force microscopy (AFM) tip to write onto surfaces using molecular ink and is now used in labs across the world for studying materials at the nanoscale. What a creative way to apply such a scientific tool!
- 19/06/2007 -
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