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Scientists Create Smoothest Mirror Surface Ever
Posted by Kit Eaton at 1:15 AM on August 23, 2008
A team at the Autonomous University of Madrid have created what they're calling the smoothest mirror surface ever made. It's flat down to the size scales of individual lead atoms, and was made by depositing lead onto silicon crystal at freakish temperatures of -173 to -133°C. This messes with the quantum properties of electrons in the lead and lets it settle without bunching up as it's warmed up. It's not shiny, or for checking out your hair-do though: the intention is to bend the compound mirror into a convex shape for use in a helium ion microscope. This'll work in similar ways and with similar magnification to an electron microscope, focusing helium ions instead of electrons, which don't damage delicate biological samples. The team's next task is to tackle the bending part. Smooth work, guys. [New Scientist]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
ps61318
Posted 1:49 AM 23/8/08
@Log1c: ...but then the caption would need to be changed, to "this is just barely not flat." Let's be fair.
@LittleJon: Good on ya.
@JChristopher: Pretty sure they do - They used it during the Inquisition, I think.
I think a helium-ion microscope would make the specimens talk funny.
ps61318
vgart
Posted 1:46 AM 23/8/08
I don't get the picture...
vgart
Log1c
Posted 1:41 AM 23/8/08
Should have used a picture of Kiera Knightly. Zing!
Log1c
tridtaei
Posted 1:39 AM 23/8/08
Seems like a mirror 1 atom thick would be kind of fragile. Think of what it would look like if you microwaved it!
tridtaei
LittleJon
Posted 1:38 AM 23/8/08
So are all the researches (and students maybe) at the Autonomous University robots?
LittleJon
JChristopher
Posted 1:35 AM 23/8/08
This should work for telescopes also. Does Madrid have a deposition chamber 30 feet in diameter?
JChristopher
mister_s
Posted 1:27 AM 23/8/08
ok, i am no physicist, but wont bending it move the atoms and screw up its smoothness?
mister_s
takashimiike 3G edition
Posted 1:23 AM 23/8/08
Wow. What an accomplishment. Now let's see if they can tell the difference between their "smoothest surface' and a simple piece of glass.
takashimiike 3G edition
Bob1967
Posted 1:23 AM 23/8/08
opps sorry my bad.
Bob1967
Bob1967
Posted 1:21 AM 23/8/08
Meet the team.
Bob1967
wiggatron
Posted 2:12 AM 23/8/08
@tridtaei: "made by depositing lead onto silicon crystal"
I think the crystal substrate is what gives it strength.
wiggatron
qbrad
Posted 1:55 AM 23/8/08
I think I know a certain robot that this task of "bending" might be well suited for. He's made in Mexico.
qbrad
tatiana.noel
Posted 2:30 AM 23/8/08
@Log1c: ZING indeed!!!
tatiana.noel
EctoGamad
Posted 2:24 AM 23/8/08
Erm, they did this years ago - the flattest mirror is actually liquid Mercury. Only problem is, you can't tilt it (or blend it).
EctoGamad
kps9727
Posted 2:23 AM 23/8/08
For bending - use the same process in a concave centrifuge. No need to bend, it comes out bent!
(Yeah, I know, probably way oversimplified)
kps9727
vertigo
Posted 2:54 AM 23/8/08
How will this help them get laid?
vertigo
helldiver
Posted 3:27 AM 23/8/08
@vertigo:
Actually, it's a surefire thing: Hot women like mirrors and the dumb ones .... go for shiny objects. All bases covered.
helldiver
HellTempest
Posted 4:05 AM 23/8/08
@mister_s: I think they meant they have to fix the bending.
HellTempest
ps61318
Posted 4:48 AM 23/8/08
@vertigo: Put it on the ceiling.
ps61318
Uncle Remus
Posted 2:33 PM 23/8/08
Hasn't china been doing this on their toys for years?
Uncle Remus
Anogar
Posted 4:40 AM 24/8/08
@EctoGamad: I bet the "will it blend" guy would disagree. You can blend anything!
Anogar
max.applin
Posted 1:35 AM 23/8/08
@mister_s: no, imagine if you had a piece of crumpled tin foil (a metal i know, but was the best example i could think of) and the flattened it out, then bent it into some sort of convex shape, it'd kind of suck as lens no? Do it with a surface that has zero imperfections though and you get a perfect lens...
max.applin