Molecular measurement machine features wide field of view
A molecular measuring machine developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (Gaithersburg, MD) images atoms and the distances between them. But the key feature is a 50-mm square field of view, which is 250,000 times that of current commercial scanning-probe microscopes. Precise probe control is aided by nesting the device within concentric copper shells for isolation from temperature and vibration effects and by laser interferometry. Thus the ti¥can be positioned in steps as small as 0.075 nm.
