The smallest in the world

2001/02/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Patenteak/Asmakizunak
• Osasuna

The Japanese Himeji Institute of Technology, NEC Corporation and researchers from Seiko Instruments have produced the world's smallest wine glass. The cup has a diameter of 2,750 nanometers -200,000 times lower than usual - and is carbon. Therefore, they have been able to realize a three-dimensional object on a nanometric scale.

This three-dimensional production technique will benefit manufacturers who are preparing next-generation electronic material. In fact, moving from microns to nanometers is becoming increasingly difficult to make structures of high precision. The new technique will allow the realization of biosensors, high-performance optical communications devices, control switches, etc. in ultravinatura. It is considered that the new technique can also be used in other areas, nano-electromechanical, nanooptics, nanomagnetic devices, bionanotxips, etc.

For the realization of this type of small structures it would be necessary to use the two-dimensional techniques currently employed in the manufacture of semiconductors. But this technique would have great drawbacks. In fact, lasers used in optical structuring techniques are inaccurate in structures below a micron.

For the realization of the Wine Cup, researchers have projected the ion beam in the gallium by computer-controlled electromagnetic deflection.