Scientists Make World's Smallest Violin [View all]

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The tiny violin was created to demonstrate the accuracy and versatility of a state-of-the-art nanolithography system.

Kelly Morrison, the head of Loughborough University's Physics Department, said the system would allow scientists "to design experiments that probe materials in different ways—using light, magnetism, or electricity—and observe their responses."
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The miniature violin was made using a NanoFrazor, a system that employs thermal scanning probe lithography.

This technique uses a heated, needlelike tip to sculpt material at nanometer precision. According to the university's press release, the process began with a chip being covered in two layers a gel-like material. The pattern was then etched, washed and coated in platinum, then cleaned again to show the final form.
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