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Imaging

Nanoscale MRI

Nature volume 458, pages 844–845 (2009)Cite this article

Magnetic resonance imaging offers rich three-dimensional pictures, but with limited resolution. Imaging at the nanometre scale has now become possible using highly sensitive force-detection techniques.

Seeing inside a complex object is an invaluable aid to understanding it, so three-dimensional imaging is a pressing objective in areas ranging from molecular and cell biology to investigations of the electronic and structural properties of materials. The challenge is made more difficult by the desire to see the object without altering it in the process. This requires a delicate touch, involving as weak an interaction as possible with the object. But such an approach often conflicts with the need for the high spatial resolution that makes fine detail visible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. P. C. Hammel is in the Department of Physics, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA. hammel@mps.ohio-state.edu,

    P. C. Hammel

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  1. P. C. Hammel
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Hammel, P. Nanoscale MRI. Nature 458, 844–845 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/458844a

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