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Microscopy

Tip-top imaging

Nature volume 446, pages 500–501 (2007)Cite this article

Images of nanoscale structures can be constructed using the flow of electrons ejected from a metal probe tip by a fast laser pulse. The technique adds new dimensions to established methods of microscopy.

How can we see without eyes? One way is with electric fields. Fishes do this all the time: sharks, for instance, use electroreceptors to 'see' distortions of fields caused by nearby objects, and thus locate their prey. The builder's tool known as a stud finder works in a similar way, using electric fields to locate the load-bearing members inside a wall. Writing in Physical Review Letters, Ropers et al.1 demonstrate a way to downscale this kind of depth-imaging capability to nanometre sizes.

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Figure 1: Tip and flow.

D. PLUMMER/ALAMY

Figure 2: Into the groove.

APS

References

  1. Ropers, C., Solli, D. R., Schulz, C. P., Lienau, C. & Elsaesser, T. Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 043907 (2007).

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  2. http://www.its.caltech.edu/~feynman/plenty.html

  3. Hommelhoff, P., Kealhofer, C. & Kasevich, M. A. Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 247402 (2006).

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  4. Lobastov, V. A., Srinivasan, R. & Zewail, A. H. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 102, 7069–7073 (2005).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Herman Batelaan and Kees Uiterwaal are in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Behlen Laboratory, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, City Campus, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0111, USA. hbatelaan2@unl.edu cuiterwaal2@unl.edu,

    Herman Batelaan & Kees Uiterwaal

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  1. Herman Batelaan
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  2. Kees Uiterwaal
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Batelaan, H., Uiterwaal, K. Tip-top imaging. Nature 446, 500–501 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/446500a

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