Saturday, December 5, 2009

Smallest 'snowman' - National Physics Laboratory sets world record

 LONDON, UK -- Experts at the National Physics Laboratory (NPL) have created a snowman, made of two tiny tin beads usually used to calibrate electron microscope lenses, measuring just 0.01mm across , setting the world record for the Smallest 'snowman ' .

 Photo: The world's smallest snowman is just one fifth of the width of a strand of hair and is made of two tiny tin beads. Photo by Dr David Cox / National Physical Laboratory
  ( enlarge photo )

   While the creation, once magnified in a blue light, looks like the product of a child's imagination, it was put together using hi-tech gadgetry.

It was assembled using tools designed to manipulate nano-particles, and welded together with tiny deposits of platinum. A focused ion beam was used to carve the eyes and smile, and to place the platinum nose.

   The the  Smallest 'snowman ' was created by Dr David Cox , a member of the Quantum Detection group at the laboratory.

   The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is one of the UK's leading science facilities and research centres. It is a world-leading centre of excellence in developing and applying the most accurate measurement standards.

    The techniques used to create the the  Smallest 'snowman ' are employed by NPL:
   * To make and fine tune Atomic Force Microscope cantilevers for measuring surface topography.
   * To manufacture nano scale SQUIDs (Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices) for a wide range of future metrological applications including spintronics, single particle detection, NEMS and quantum information processing.
    * To measure magnetic properties of very small magnetic systems using quantum hall probes

programmed DNA to create little gears, tubes and wireframe balls. Columbia University also created self-assembling nanogears for those future hordes of tiny robots.