Scientists at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) are learning about a new tool: the NanoFrazor nanoengraver. The device is capable of creating reliefs with a resolution of several nanometers. It’s like a CNC machine, only for machining nearly two-dimensional materials. With the help of NanoFrazor, scientists intend to create unique sensors for quantum devices, biological research and much more.
Image source: DTU Physics
To explore the possibilities of a new tool, the researchers created the smallest “vinyl” record in the world with a true stereo track of the first 25 seconds of the song «Rockin’ around the Christmas tree». The left channel was encoded in the curves of the track and the right channel was encoded in the depth of the groove along the entire length. True, to reproduce the recording you will need either the NanoFrazor itself or an atomic force microscope.
“The fact that we can now precisely shape surfaces with nanometer accuracy at nearly the speed of imagination is a game-changer for us.” said associate professor Tim Booth. “We have many ideas of what to do next and are confident that this machine will greatly speed up the prototyping of new structures. Our main goal is to develop new magnetic sensors to detect currents in the living brain. […] We look forward to creating finely modeled potential landscapes with which we can better control electronic waves.”
The device cuts out a nano-relief in a special plastic. This allows you to create the shape of the future sensor of any complexity. A graphene monolayer can be applied to the mold, then the graphene sheet will take the spatial shape needed for the experiments. Such sensors can be created with incredible sensitivity, which will allow, for example, to record an electrical (nerve) impulse from every neuron in the human brain. The same sensors can help distinguish between the motion of individual electrons in quantum devices and perform other measurements that have not been possible until now.
Scientists are starting to work with materials at a level that would not have even been dreamed of ten or fifteen years ago. And if 200 years ago a shod flea was called a miracle, today a tool like NanoFrazor can easily write a couple of lines on a single red blood cell.
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