Video Transcript
A micron is known by measurement to be a thousandth of a millimeter. Better yet, that makes up a millionth of a meter. Keeping that in mind, physicists at Loughborough University in the UK have developed a violin measuring 13 microns wide by 35 microns long.
To compare even further, a human hair usually measures anywhere from 17 to 180 microns in diameter.
Made out of platinum, the violin was created to demonstrate Loughborough University’s new nanolithography system. The system, through advanced technology, allows researchers to build at nanoscale. The process supports a variety of projects to identify new materials for computer devices.
The nanotechnology system takes up an entire lab space due to its complexity. The system includes a NanoFrazor sculpting machine and a thermal scanning lithography probe.
To create the violin, researchers used a coated chip under the NanoFrazor, etching out a design after two layers of resist material were applied.
Burning the pattern in, the resist dissolves, leaving a cavity behind. After a thin platinum layer was deposited to the chip, a final rinse revealed the finished violin through the remaining materials.
All in all, it takes about 3 hours to make the violin, though researchers took multiple months as they utilized different techniques.
Moving forward from the violin, two projects are in the works at Loughborough, investigating magnetic data storage and heat usage for energy-efficient processing.