Physics and `doing`: building with atoms

Graphic - corral
http://www.almaden.ibm.com/vis/stm/corral.html

A knowledge of the physics of the microscopic world allows us to manipulate atoms to form micro-electronic devices. This one is called an electron corral. It is built from 48 iron atoms (they look like mountains) arranged into a circular ring, on the surface of a piece of copper. The diameter of the ring is about 10-8 m. Electrons are ‘trapped’ in the corral. The ripples show the highs and lows of the concentration of electrons, and are testimony to the wave-like character of microscopic particles.

The device used both to assemble the atoms and to view the result is known as the Scanning Tunneling Microscsope. If you stay with us you’ll get the chance to use one in the final year laboratory!