microrobert
08-07-2013, 05:15 PM
The Mini Lisa: Scientists 'Paint' Iconic Work on World's Smallest Canvas
http://images.scienceworldreport.com/data/images/full/5446/mini-mona-lisa.jpg
You've probably heard of the Mona Lisa, but have you ever heard of the Mini Lisa? Scientists have now created da Vinci's iconic painting on the world's smallest canvas. They've "painted" the portrait on a surface that's approximately 30 microns in width, or one-third the width of a human hair.
Actually creating the image was an impressive technological feat. The scientists used an atomic force microscope and a process known as ThermoChemical NanoLithography (TCNL). Going pixel by pixel, the researchers positioned a heated cantilever at the substrate surface in order to create a series of confined nanoscale chemical reactions. By varying the heat at each location, they could control the number of new molecules that were created. This, in turn, could create different colors.
The Mini Lisa: Scientists 'Paint' Iconic Work on World's Smallest Canvas (http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/8620/20130805/mini-lisa-scientists-paint-iconic-work-worlds-smallest-canvas.htm)
http://images.scienceworldreport.com/data/images/full/5446/mini-mona-lisa.jpg
You've probably heard of the Mona Lisa, but have you ever heard of the Mini Lisa? Scientists have now created da Vinci's iconic painting on the world's smallest canvas. They've "painted" the portrait on a surface that's approximately 30 microns in width, or one-third the width of a human hair.
Actually creating the image was an impressive technological feat. The scientists used an atomic force microscope and a process known as ThermoChemical NanoLithography (TCNL). Going pixel by pixel, the researchers positioned a heated cantilever at the substrate surface in order to create a series of confined nanoscale chemical reactions. By varying the heat at each location, they could control the number of new molecules that were created. This, in turn, could create different colors.
The Mini Lisa: Scientists 'Paint' Iconic Work on World's Smallest Canvas (http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/8620/20130805/mini-lisa-scientists-paint-iconic-work-worlds-smallest-canvas.htm)