Tuesday, June 22, 2004

NanoFlower


nanoflower

"The Institute of Physics releases some of the most beautiful science images of the year so far, a collection of photomicrographs of tiny “flowers” and “trees” less than one thousandth the width of a human hair. The images are published in the Institute journal Nanotechnology.

"These stunning images were taken by Ghim Wei Ho, a PhD student studying nanotechnology at Cambridge University. She has named some of her best photographs nanobouquet, nanotrees, and nanoflower because of their curious similarity to familiar organic structures such as flower-heads and tiny growing trees.

"Ghim Wei's work involves making new types of materials based on nanotechnology and these flowers are an example of such a new material. Here, nanometre scale wires (about one thousandth the diameter of a human hair) of a silicon-carbon material (silicon carbide) are grown from tiny droplets of a liquid metal (Gallium) on a silicon surface, like the chips inside our home computers." More here

Update: Roland Piquepaille sends us a whole bouquet.

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