From a post written by AZoNano:

A significant discovery was announced by Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) featuring results enabled by Protochips in situ products.

In a world where 3-D printing and nanotechnology are becoming commonplace, Dr. Raymond Unocic of ORNL has discovered a way to combine them with significant results.

Dr. Unocic and colleagues from ORNL outlined a technique and preliminary results for a completely new type of material printing process.

Using an aberration-corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM), fitted with a Protochips’ Poseidon Select liquid cell, they were able to turn the electron beam into a sub angstrom, palladium-writing nanoparticle generator.

They achieved this by filling the liquid cell with an H2PdCl4 solution which forms Pd nanoparticles when reduced under the electron beam – a process called “radiolysis”. Dr. Unocic was able to draw shapes, letters, and even entire words into the liquid cell.

This is significant as the electron beam is smaller than a single atom and this technique could allow scientists to 3-D print objects on an unprecedented tiny scale.

 

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Image Credit:   AZoNano

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