Tag Archives: focused ion beam

Israel’s Prime Minister to offer US President Obama two nanoscale Declarations of Independence

President Barack Obama will receive his present of a nanoscale document containing the US and Israeli Declarations of Independence in Israel, according to a Mar. 19, 2013 news item by Kevin Hattori on phys.org,

In a ceremony to be held on Wednesday, March 20, [2013] in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will present U.S. President Barack Obama with nano-sized inscribed replicas of the Declarations of Independence of the United States and the State of Israel. Created by scientists at the Technion’s Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute (RBNI), at the request of PM Netanyahu, the Declarations appear side-by-side on a gold-coated silicon chip smaller than a pinhead. The juxtaposition symbolizes the shared values of both countries.

Hattori’s Mar. 18, 2013 news release for the American Technion Society (ATS), and the origin for the phys.org news item, provides this technical detail,

The area of the etched inscriptions is 0.04 square millimeters, and 0.00002 millimeters (20 nanometers) deep. The chip is affixed to a Jerusalem Stone dating to the Second Temple Period (1st Century BCE to 1st Century CE).

“This unique application of cutting-edge technology is just one example of Israel’s remarkable leadership in high-tech,” said Technion President Peretz Lavie.

The text was written using a focused ion beam (FIB) generator that shot tiny particles called Gallium ions onto a gold surface covering a base layer of silicon.  In a process that can be likened to digging a hole in the earth using a water jet, the ion beam etched the surface of the gold layer, making the underlying silicon layer visible.

The original image was translated into etching instructions using a special program developed for this purpose by Dr. Ohad Zohar, who conducted his Ph.D. under Prof. Uri Sivan of the Technion Physics Department. The engraving was done by Dr. Tzipi Cohen-Hyams, head of the RBNI Focused Ion Beam Lab. Other members of the team were Prof. Wayne D. Kaplan, Prof. Nir Tessler, Mr. Yaacov Shneider, Dr. Orna Ternyak, and Ms. Svetlana Yoffis.  The work was conducted in the Technion’s Sara and Moshe Zisapel Nanoelectronics Center and the Wolfson Microelectronics Research and Teaching Center.

Here’s what the chip looks like,

Chip containing U.S. and Israeli Declarations of Independence, on Jerusalem stone (downloaded from http://www.ats.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7807&news_iv_ctrl=1161]

Chip containing U.S. and Israeli Declarations of Independence, on Jerusalem stone (downloaded from http://www.ats.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7807&news_iv_ctrl=1161]

There’s also this video describing how the work was done,

Do you have any suggestions for the diamond engraved with Queen Elizabeth 2’s image?

The folks at the University of Nottingham’s Periodic Table of Videos have come up with a way to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s 60th anniversary (diamond) jubilee of her reign. Thanks to the April 11, 2012 posting by GrrlScientist on the Guardian science blogs I’ve gotten a really explanation of how a focused gallium ion beam can be used to engrave diamonds.  In my April 9, 2012 posting about computers in diamonds and a ring that’s 100% diamond, I noted my interest in focused ion beams and I’m delighted to include this video where scientist Martyn Poliakoff offers an explanation and demonstration,

If you do have any suggestions for what they could do with this diamond (I like Poliakoff’s suggestion of sending it to institutions that have diamond-jubilee themed exhibits for display), you can contact them via email periodicvideos@gmail.com or one of two twitter accounts @periodicvideos or @UniofNottingham.

Since posting on April 9, 2012 I’ve had this old pop song (‘This Diamond Ring’ by Gary Lewis and the Playboys) on a continuous loop in my brain,

I hope by placing the video here, the song will finally disappear. (I’m also hoping it doesn’t get replaced with ‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend’.)

ETA April 16, 2012: There’s a bit more detail about the engraving process, which took place in the Nottingham Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Centre [NNNC] in this April 16, 2012 news item by Tara De Cozar on phyorg.com.