The world's smallest 'ruler' can measure down to a mere 0.1 nm—the width of a single atom or as small as TSMC and Intel would like their transistors to be

HardwareThe world’s smallest ‘ruler’ can measure down to a mere 0.1 nm—the width of a single atom or as small as TSMC and Intel would like their transistors to beWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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A detailed macro shot of DNA double helix strands illuminated with blue fluorescent light. The foreground DNA structure is in sharp focus, while the background is blurred, creating a bokeh effect. The image evokes themes of scientific research, genetics, and biotechnology.

Scientists and engineers have multiple ways of measuring the smallest aspects of our world, including scanning tunnelling electron and atomic force microscopes. Now, a team of researchers in Germany have invented a novel method for measuring the distances between molecules to a potential accuracy of just 0.1 nm. That’s roughly the size of a single atom and the work should help scientists better understand the behaviour of protein molecules.

Protein molecules are nothing like slivers of metal or semiconductors, but accurately measuring their size and separation is quite a struggle and for decades, ultra-precise measurements have eluded scientists.

And that’s what Dr Steffen Sahl and the rest of the team have improved in their new approach. I’ve always had a fondness for science, even as a child, but I went down the route of physics, as I preferred it to the messiness of biology and chemistry (and I mean that from the point that those subjects involve lots of mess in the lab).

So I have to admit that the full explanation of how it all works is beyond me but this statement in the research paper did pique my interest. “MINFLUX fluorophore localization down to ⁓0.1 nm precision enables accurate distance measurements down to the ⁓1 nm physical extent of the fluorophores.”

Ignore the big words and just look at the scale of the precision: 0.1 nm. That’s the size of an everyday atom. That’s super precise.

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Now, while silicon does fluoresce, I’m pretty sure the above technique isn’t suitable for measuring the size of transistors and other components inside chips, mostly because silicon emits in the infrared region, which is long in wavelength (and thus less accurate than light as a measuring tool).

If a team of researchers fancies coming up with a way of hitting that level with microprocessors, it’d be a really cool way to see just how truthful TSMC, Samsung, and Intel’s claims are when it comes to their process nodes.

Science is bloody amazing, isn’t it?

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