Blog @ NanoVic - Nanotechnology Blog

Researchers at Cornell University have built a nanoguitar about the size of a red blood cell, and can play it too! 

The minute guitar is made of silicon crystal, carved out using a technique called electron-beam lithography. It can be played, not in the traditional way by plucking the strings, but through using targeted laser-light to hit the strings, which causes them to oscillate, creating interference patterns in the light reflected back which can be detected electronically and converted to audible notes. 

The nanoguitar demonstrates the possibility of manufacturing tiny mechanical devices using techniques originally designed for building microelectronic circuits, and its playing ability shows how such devices could substitute for electronic circuit components to make circuits smaller, cheaper and more energy-efficient. 

The technology may also be able to be used for the detection of contamination, with researchers finding they can detect the presence of a single bacterium attached to one such nanostructure via a change in its vibration.

To hear the guitar played click here.