Atoms of Gold

Here is an interesting picture. I am guessing it was taken with some sort of Electron microscope. It shows the lattice of pure gold atoms.

There is a scale marker in the corner showing the distance of 2nm , so this will give you an idea of how tiny the wavelength of your lasers actually are.

Jase.

Very neat picture Tallaxo.

When I was working with the thin films lab we actually trapped light using a very thin film of aluminum deposited on a glass substrate which worked as a half mirror, and then placed the reflective side (glass facing up, aluminum down) on a thick aluminum film on another glass substrate (full mirror, about 99.8% reflectivity). In the middle of the thick film we made a little etch that basically was about the size of a lithium emission (I think ~594nm). When looked at through a microscope you can see the light getting trapped in the cavity and how it tries to escape through the half-mirror! It's really cool because the etch was somewhat curved, so in some areas it was a little bigger than the wavelength and a little smaller in other areas. It was truly a sight to stare at and ponder! Imagine... trapping light... It just sounds weird! ;D

--DDL

thats really really coool..... the gold and the trapping light...... im really interested in where 10 years will take us scientifically.

Hey guys if you like the ultra-tiny look up atomic force microscope