Researched
Scanning Tunnelling Microscope
Binnig and Rohrer's microscope (IBM Zurich, 1981) senses a tunnelling current between a sharp tip and a surface and resolves single atoms; Nobel Prize 1986.
Open in the interactive tree →The current falls about tenfold for each extra ångström of gap, so the outermost atom of the tip dominates the signal and features below 0.1 nm can be told apart. In 1989 IBM researchers used the tip to place 35 xenon atoms so that they spelled IBM.
Prerequisites
Unlocks
- Molecular NanomanufacturingopenThe STM was the first tool to place single atoms, spelling IBM with xenon in 1989