Monday, September 26, 2005
When looking at the new Apple iPod Nano, one might wonder just how much smaller people can make such electronic machines. For the first time, researchers at the University of Arizona have developed a way to measure the smallest practical space atoms need to operate. While the research has a long way to go before it's applied to consumer electronics, it has real world applications. Devices, like some gyroscopes, rely on the movements of single atoms to make extremely delicate measurements. The research zeroes in on the unique attraction atoms exert, known as the Van der Waals interaction. Arizona Ph.D. physics student Jon Perreault, along with his advisor Alexander Cronin used what's called an atom interferometer to measure for the first time how far apart atoms need to be before the Van der Waals interaction starts gumming things up.
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