[tt] the physics arXiv blog

[Eugen Leitl]

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From: the physics arXiv blog <howdy at arxivblog.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:34:49 -0500 (CDT)
To: eugen at leitl.org
Subject: the physics arXiv blog
Reply-To: the physics arXiv blog <howdy at arxivblog.com>


[1]the physics arXiv blog

   [2]Nanotube springboard is world's most sensitive weighing scales

   Posted: 16 Sep 2008 12:56 AM CDT

   [3]cnt-springboard-plan.jpg 

   Vibrating springboards have long been the darlings of nanomechanics
   wanting to measure the mass of small things.

   Their thinking goes like this: a springboard vibrates at a specific
   resonant frequency that depends on its stiffness and mass. So you can
   work out the mass of anything that becomes stuck to the springboard by
   measuring any change in its resonant frequency.

   Various groups have used this idea to detect all kinds of organic and
   inorganic molecules using springboards carved out of silicon.

   But improving the sensitivity even further means reducing the mass of
   these springboards. The question is how.

   The answer is provided today by Alex Zettl and his team at the
   University of California, Berkeley, who have created a springboard out
   of a single carbon nanotube. And their machine is one helluvan elegant
   device.

   For starters, they exploit nanotubes' unusual ability to act as radio
   transmitters to determine how fast it is vibrating. They zap the
   nanotube with radio waves and listen out for the radio signals it
   emits in return. This signal tells them how fast the nanotube is
   vibrating.

   And because nanotubes are four orders of magnitude lighter than
   silicon cantilevers, they are four orders of magnitude more sensitive
   to mass.

   All that adds up to device that is able to measure the mass of
   individual gold atoms as they settle on to its surface. "The
   sensitivity of our device is 0.40 Au atoms/ SQRT Hz. This is the
   lowest mass noise ever recorded for a nanomechanical resonator," say
   Zettl and buddies.

   And if that doesn't impress you, how about this: their measurements
   were made at room temperature rather than in cryogenic conditions.

   The team points out that their device works as a unique kind of mass
   spectrometer: it is compact, does not require powerful magnets and can
   easily be built into a chip. Expect to see more of them.

   Ref: [4]arxiv.org/abs/0809.2126: An Atomic-Resolution Nanomechanical
   Mass Sensor

   [5][arXivblog?i=VE1Fff] 
   [6][arXivblog?i=SImuL] [7][arXivblog?i=IGi9L] [8][arXivblog?i=goH2l]
   [9][arXivblog?i=XUoFL] [10][arXivblog?i=ubLdl] [11][arXivblog?i=7pU5L]
   [12][arXivblog?i=jx9Nl] [13][arXivblog?i=GDobL] 
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References

   1. http://arxivblog.com/
   2. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/arXivblog/~3/393908779/
   3. http://arxivblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/cnt-springboard-plan.jpg
   4. http://arxiv.org/abs/0809.2126
   5. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/arXivblog?a=VE1Fff
   6. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/arXivblog?a=SImuL
   7. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/arXivblog?a=IGi9L
   8. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/arXivblog?a=goH2l
   9. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/arXivblog?a=XUoFL
  10. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/arXivblog?a=ubLdl
  11. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/arXivblog?a=7pU5L
  12. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/arXivblog?a=jx9Nl
  13. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/arXivblog?a=GDobL
  14. http://arxivblog.com/
  15. http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailunsub?id=8632699&key=kesJ612ZsV
  16. http://feeds.feedburner.com/arXivblog
  17. http://feeds.feedburner.com/arXivblog

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Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
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