International.
The use of a 'Nano scalpel' allowed a group of German scientists to manipulate materials with nanometric precision. For the researchers, the new Focused Ion Beam microscope serves as a magnifying glass and grinding machine.
The so-called nano scalpel makes it possible to prepare precisely samples for observation. "The microscope is not only able to examine microscopic defects, cracks or spot corrosion sites beneath the surfaces of materials, but also to machine the surface of samples with extremely high precision, on a nanometer scale," says Maxim Bykov, a researcher at the University of Bayreuth.
The ion beam is what gives the microscope its scalpel-like abilities. The team of scientists at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, or DESY, a German research center, say the multipurpose tool has a variety of scientific applications.
"In addition to examining the structure of materials, the ability of the ion beam to remove the material also leads it to a wide range of different applications," said Natalia Dubrovinskaia, a professor at Bayreuth.
The researchers employed their new device in a separate experiment involving small diamond anvils.
Source: UPI.
