Nantotechnologists create ‘world’s smallest Christmas card’
December 24th, 2010 - 12:05 pm ICT by ANILondon, Dec 24 (ANI): Nantotechnologists at the University of Glasgow have created what they believe is the world’s smallest Christmas card.
The card is so small it could fit on to the surface of a postage stamp 8,276 times.
The image, which measures 200×290 micro-metres, features a Christmas tree and is etched on a tiny piece of glass.
The team behind the project said the technology could eventually be used in products such as TVs and cameras.
The university’s school of engineering drew up the design to highlight its “world-leading” nanotechnology expertise.
“Our nanotechnology is among the best in the world but sometimes explaining to the public what the technology is capable of can be a bit tricky,” the BBC quoted Prof David Cumming as saying.
“We decided that producing this Christmas card was a simple way to show just how accurate our technology is.
“The process to manufacture the card only took 30 minutes. It was very straightforward to produce as the process is highly repeatable - the design of the card took far longer than the production.
“The card is 200 micro-metres wide by 290 micro-metres tall.
“To put that into some sort of perspective, a micro-metre is a millionth of a metre; the width of a human hair is about 100 micro-metres.
“You could fit over half a million of them on to a standard A5 Christmas card - but signing them would prove to be a bit of a challenge,” Cumming added.
The colours were produced by a process known as plasmon resonance in a patterned aluminium film made in the university’s James Watt Nanofabrication Centre. (ANI)
- Mini Christmas greeting via world's smallest card! - Dec 25, 2010
- Pens that write with light used to draw 15,000 replicas of city skyline - Aug 02, 2010
- IBM creates world's smallest 3D map - Apr 26, 2010
- New biochip measures glucose level from saliva - Jan 24, 2012
- New 'Spaser' technology to fuel future nano-technologies - Jan 13, 2011
- Discarded X-mas cards can fuel 20 moon trips! - Dec 26, 2011
- 'Golden question' that made Indian scientist probe nanotech - Dec 08, 2011
- New tool can detect deadly anthrax attack in 15 minutes - Jul 07, 2011
- Powell issues warning to Bolt by winning in Hungary - Jul 31, 2011
- Grenadian James makes stunning pro debut at Diamond League - Aug 06, 2011
- Bolt confirmed for Weltklasse Zurich - May 17, 2012
- Bolt sparkles but upstaged by amazing Blake - Sep 17, 2011
- New materials could make invisibility cloak technology a reality - Jan 26, 2011
- Scientists turn light into electrical current using golden nanoscale system - Feb 13, 2010
- Tweaking solar cell can double its efficiency - Jan 22, 2012
Tags: 30 minutes, a5, aluminium, christmas card, christmas tree, colours, david cumming, dec 24, half a million, james watt, millionth, nanofabrication, piece of glass, postage stamp, prof david, resonance, school of engineering, tiny piece, university of glasgow, width of a human hair