In an interesting academic tour de force, John Cummings, A. Zettl and
Philip G. Collins from Berkeley and LBNL have managed to spin their
work to get simultaneous publications in Science *and* Nature.
(I cannot recall having ever seen this previously).
In Science:
"Low-Friction Nanoscale Linear Bearing Realized from Multiwall Carbon
Nanotubes", Science 289(5479):602-604 (28 Jul 2000).
URL: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/289/5479/602
In Nature:
"Materials: Peeling and sharpening multiwall nanotubes"
Nature 406(6796):586 (10 Aug 2000).
URL: http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v406/n6796/full/406586a0_fs.html
The Nature article is more interesting for me because it seems to
suggest that sharpened (few or single-wall) nanotube tips may be produced
using automated sensing procedures and subjected to quality control using
electron microscopy and pattern matching.
The bottom line would appear to be that there is a clear path to the
volume production of atomically precise AFM tips, implying that
parallel or array read/write AFMs should be feasible.
Makes you want to ask -- "What is the sound of one shoe dropping?"
Also worth noting is the fact that the journals involved must *want*
to publish articles in these areas which bodes well for scientists
working in these areas.
Robert
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