Home > News > What Happens When You Make a Flame Thrower, Pen and Tuning Fork 10,000 Times Smaller Than a Human Hair?
July 18th, 2010
What Happens When You Make a Flame Thrower, Pen and Tuning Fork 10,000 Times Smaller Than a Human Hair?
Abstract:
In the 1989 film Honey I Shrunk the Kids, a nutty scientist invents a machine that miniaturizes objects. Fast forward 20 years and scientists at the University of Utah are using miniaturized tools in a very different way. While they have avoided shrinking their children in the process, the scientists' effort may help grow the Utah economy.
Dr. Massood Tabib-Azar is developing a torch that is so small it is invisible to the human eye and has the potential to make existing electronics smaller and more powerful. Examples range from miniaturized GPS units to a cellphone that is one-fifth the size of current market models. The nanotorch does this by minimizing waste and resources when building electronics chips and circuits.
"The way we make chips today is wasteful," says Tabib-Azar. "It's similar to taking a big chunk of wood and then whittling it away until you have a table. In contrast, we are building from the ground up instead of cutting away. The torch is like a pen that deposits and erases only the materials we need to build the electronic chip in the exact place we need it."
Source:
utahpulse.com
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