IF NANOTECHNOLOGY ever makes the big time, we'll need a cheap and accessible way of measuring the features of these diminutive devices. Currently, the only way to do this is with an expensive room-sized machine called a synchrotron, as this is the only source of coherent light at wavelengths short enough to measure such tiny details. But a cheap table-top alternative is on the way.
The light needed to make accurate measurements in tens of nanometres is in the extreme ultraviolet band (EUV). In a synchrotron, a particle accelerator bends the paths of high-energy electrons in such a way that they release EUV light. But it's an energy-intensive process and only a small part of the output beam is usable.
The new approach is the brainchild of Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Surprisingly, their starting point is at the other side of the ...
To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.