By Jon Fingas, Engadget
It's difficult to create nanoscale 3D objects.
The techniques either tend to be slow (such as stacking layers of 2D
etchings) or are limited to specific materials and shapes. MIT
researchers might have a better way -- they've devised
a technique for making nanoscale versions of 3D objects using a wide
variety of materials and shapes. The team ultimately reversed a process
for imaging brain tissue, whittling a relatively large object down to a
creation one thousandth its original size.
The scientists' approach starts by creating a scaffold made of
polyacrylate, an absorbent material you find in diapers. They then soak
the structure in a solution of fluorescein molecules that attach to the
scaffold when exposed to light -- creators can use lasers to place most
any particle wherever they want, whether it's genetic material or metal
nanoparticles. To shrink the structure down after that point, the team
introduces an acid that blocks negative charges in the polyacrylate and
forced it to shrink.
There are limits to the existing technology.
The resolution of the final product directly correlates to its size. An
object that's 1 cubic millimeter can have a resolution of 50 nanometers,
but you'll need to blow it up to 1 cubic centimeter to achieve a
resolution of 500 nanometers.
However, the potential is vast. The
researchers suspect this could initially be used for creating
specialized optics for science, microscopes and even smartphones, but it
could be tremendously useful for nano-sized parts in robots. The main
challenge at this point is scale. While the needed equipment is readily
available in labs, it might be another matter entirely to mass-produce
nanoscale parts.
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