Scientists at NIST have developed a new method for precisely placing individual atoms on a crystal surface, a crucial step in building nanoscale devices. By converting the electronic signals emitted by moving atoms into audio, researchers can “hear” the atoms switching positions, resembling a hip hop scratching sound.
The NIST team used a custom-built scanning tunneling microscope to move a cobalt atom back and forth between two bonding sites on a copper crystal surface. By controlling the current flowing through the microscope tip, they could make the cobalt atom heat up and vibrate, weakening the bonds and allowing it to hop between sites.
This advance enables more reliable positioning of atoms for constructing complex atomic-scale structures and devices. The research represents initial steps in exploring atom-based metrology, where single atoms serve as nanoscale probes to collect environmental information.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2004/09/scientists-tame-hip-hop-atoms
Keywords: Atom, Nanoscale, Metrology, STM, Atom manipulation
