Using a technique known as atomic layer deposition and, surprisingly, a roll of sticky tape, researchers from the US and Korea have come up with a new technique to produce extremely thin gaps in metal layers. Light with frequencies in the optical or near-infrared parts of the electromagnetic spectrum can pass through the gaps, as can terahertz waves with millimetre-scale wavelengths – even though the gaps are thousands or hundreds of thousands of times narrower than these wavelengths. The technology will allow scientists to rapidly manufacture gaps and slits as narrow as 1 nm across, something that was hitherto impossible, and so make devices, such as ultrafast and energy-efficient nanoscale optical switches and miniaturized chips. Sensors that rely on harnessing terahertz waves for diagnostics and chemical sensing could also be envisaged, says the team………..
http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/54716
