NPL creates nano-scale 'snowman'

NPL has created a snowman that measures just 10um wide - one fifth the width of a human hair.

The company made the snowman from two thin beads used to calibrate electron microscope astigmatism.

The eyes and smile were milled using a focused ion beam, and the nose, which is less than 1um wide (or 0.001mm), is ion beam deposited platinum.

A nano-manipulation system was used to assemble the parts and platinum deposition was used to weld all the elements together.

The snowman is mounted on a silicon cantilever from an atomic force microscope, the sharp tip of which 'feels' surfaces creating topographic surveys at almost atomic scales.

NPL, a CEMMNT partner, is using the techniques that created the snowman to: make and fine-tune atomic force microscope cantilevers for measuring surface topography; manufacture nano-scale Squids (superconducting quantum interference devices) for a range of future metrological applications, including spintronics, single-particle detection, NEMS and quantum information processing; and measure magnetic properties of very small magnetic systems using quantum hall probes.

Atomic force microscopy generates three-dimension images and surface property information by scanning a stylus (typical diameter five nanometres) over areas of 100 microns and below, with Angstrom precision.

This non-destructive technique requires no sample preparation and operates in air, fluid, electrochemical and vacuum environments using laser feedback to minimise forces between the tip and sample.

Sample temperature can be varied and experiments can be performed under humidity control.

Advanced imaging modes enable a range of material properties to be characterised with nanometre resolution.

The probe can also be precisely positioned for local spectroscopic analysis.

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