homehome Home chatchat Notifications


Blasting ink drops with lasers may lead to better computers

Have you ever wondered how an ink drop blasted by a laser looks like? Physicist Hanneke Gelderblom of the University of Twente in Enschede, Netherlands did! She and her team have won the American Physical Society’s 2014 Gallery of Fluid Motion competition for this technique which is not only super cool, but may one day lead to better […]

Mihai Andrei
December 15, 2014 @ 3:10 pm

share Share

Have you ever wondered how an ink drop blasted by a laser looks like? Physicist Hanneke Gelderblom of the University of Twente in Enschede, Netherlands did! She and her team have won the American Physical Society’s 2014 Gallery of Fluid Motion competition for this technique which is not only super cool, but may one day lead to better computers.

POW A pulse of laser light obliterates a free-falling ink drop in an image from an award-winning video in the American Physical Society’s 2014 Gallery of Fluid Motion competition.

This is what it looks like when a pulse of light obliterates a droplet of ink – the laser delivers so much energy to the droplet that the liquid actually turns to plasma. These nanosecond-long photons and the way they transform liquid to plasma is very interesting for Gelderblom and ASML, the Dutch company that supports her research.

ASML builds what are called litography machines. Litography can mean many things; the main meaning is a method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. Today, most types of high-volume books and magazines, especially when illustrated in colour, are printed with offset lithography, which has become the most common form of printing technology since the 1960s. However, in this case, litography means something else – ASML are making litography machines which in turn make computer chips.

The device shoots a laser at drops of molten tin to produce plasma. The plasma then emits extreme ultraviolet light, which can imprint features less than 13.5 nanometers across onto chips. A smaller feature size would enable engineers to pack more transistors onto a single chip. However, as strange as it sounds, even though we’ve been using this technique for quite a while now, there are still many things we don’t understand about it. Gelderblom’s reseach provides insight into how the whole thing actually works.

Her team studies the shape and fragmentation of the disturbed drops and then analyzes how different results can be obtained using different orientations and energies. By understanding and finessing this procedure, she is not only generating super cool images – she is helping develop better and finer computers.

 

share Share

A Brain Implant Just Turned a Woman’s Thoughts Into Speech in Near Real Time

This tech restores speech in real time for people who can’t talk, using only brain signals.

Using screens in bed increases insomnia risk by 59% — but social media isn’t the worst offender

Forget blue light, the real reason screens disrupt sleep may be simpler than experts thought.

We Should Start Worrying About Space Piracy. Here's Why This Could be A Big Deal

“We are arguing that it’s already started," say experts.

An Experimental Drug Just Slashed Genetic Heart Risk by 94%

One in 10 people carry this genetic heart risk. There's never been a treatment — until now.

We’re Getting Very Close to a Birth Control Pill for Men

Scientists may have just cracked the code for male birth control.

A New Antibiotic Was Hiding in Backyard Dirt and It Might Save Millions

A new antibiotic works when others fail.

Researchers Wake Up Algae That Went Dormant Before the First Pyramids

Scientists have revived 7,000-year-old algae from Baltic Sea sediments, pushing the limits of resurrection ecology.

A Fossil So Strange Scientists Think It’s From a Completely New Form of Life

This towering mystery fossil baffled scientists for 180 Years and it just got weirder.

ChatGPT Seems To Be Shifting to the Right. What Does That Even Mean?

ChatGPT doesn't have any political agenda but some unknown factor is causing a subtle shift in its responses.

This Freshwater Fish Can Live Over 120 Years and Shows No Signs of Aging. But It Has a Problem

An ancient freshwater species may be quietly facing a silent collapse.