OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Sept. 9, 2016--Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are the first to harness a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) to directly write tiny patterns in metallic "ink," forming features in liquid that are finer than half the width of a human hair.
The automated process is controlled by weaving a STEM instrument's electron beam through a liquid-filled cell to spur deposition of metal onto a silicon microchip. The patterns created are "nanoscale," or on the size scale of atoms or molecules.