Antimatter used to find tiny defects
Once the stuff of science fiction, a novel antimatter microscope can help scientists examine imperfections in small surfaces with unequaled accuracy. A team led by Werner Triftshäuser of the Military University in Munich reports it can detect defects in silicon, the stuff of computer chips, down to one part in 1 million. Based on antimatter's tendency to annihilate regular matter, the device works by shooting tiny antimatter particles at the silicon and recording flashes created by the collisions. Defects were revealed where the flashes failed to appear, they report in the current Physical Review Letters. The microscope may allow computer makers to detect flaws in computer chips the size of an atom.
too damned cool & overclockers should love this too
Once the stuff of science fiction, a novel antimatter microscope can help scientists examine imperfections in small surfaces with unequaled accuracy. A team led by Werner Triftshäuser of the Military University in Munich reports it can detect defects in silicon, the stuff of computer chips, down to one part in 1 million. Based on antimatter's tendency to annihilate regular matter, the device works by shooting tiny antimatter particles at the silicon and recording flashes created by the collisions. Defects were revealed where the flashes failed to appear, they report in the current Physical Review Letters. The microscope may allow computer makers to detect flaws in computer chips the size of an atom.
too damned cool & overclockers should love this too
