Unique Insights into the NanoworldNew Video Shows How the “PICO” Works

November 14, 2012

With the help of the best electron microscopes of our times, at the Ernst Ruska-Centre (ER-C) researchers are able to model and examine in great detail the arrangement of atoms in a material.  This is of crucial importance for advances in solid state physics and nanotechnology, as the interplay of atoms determines the properties of materials as well as components and circuits.  In February 2012, the ER-C, operated jointly by Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen, added a high-performance microscope unique in Europe to its inventory of equipment; the PICO is able to correct not just spherical aberrations but also another type of lens defect – known as chromatic aberration – and in doing so is able to achieve a record resolution of 50 billionths of a millimetre. A new video shows how the PICO works:

Read more about “PICO” (Advanced Picometre Resolution Project) in our brochure “Insight into the World of Atoms”  Einblick in die Welt der Atome

Ernst Ruska-Centre (ER-C): www.er-c.org