At Wrocław Research Centre EIT+, one of the world’s smallest dwarfs, only 20 microns tall, has been carved in a grain of sand. The name of the dwarf has been selected in a competition; it is called Grafeniusz Drobnodziejek.
Image of a dwarf in a grain of sand has been created with an ion beam, which allows for very precise removal of material. The dwarf is only 20 microns tall, which means that you would have to put 50 such little men, one on one, to create a column 1 mm high.
The name Grafeniusz is not accidental. On his arm the dwarf wears a hexagonal ring, which looks like a ring of graphene. Although this image of graphene carved in a grain of sand is really small - you can not see it even under ordinary optical microscope - actual graphene ring is still more than 30 thousand times smaller.
"The smallest Wrocław dwarf is a way to present technical capabilities of microscopes of the Wrocław Research Centre EIT+ - noted Dr. Katarzyna Komorowska, Head of the EIT+ Nanotechnology and Semiconductor Structures Lab. - Electronic scanning microscopes allow us to see objects that are even approx. 1,000 times smaller than presented dwarf".
According to the EIT+ website, the EIT+ Electron Microscopy Lab, where the grain of sand with the dwarf is, performs specialized analyses of materials including minerals, raw materials and intermediate products. It is equipped with modern SEM electron microscopes which allow to examine the composition, porosity, size, shape and distribution of the grains of the material or substance. Such capabilities are used in processes including the analysis of the morphology of samples, determination of the elemental composition and the so-called automated mineralogy, for example in the mining industry. Through such a microscope you can also see Grafeniusz Drobnodziejek.
In turn, the ion beam, which was used to carve Grafeniusz, allows for very precise removal of material, which Wrocław Research Centre EIT+ uses, for example, to create miniature optical components (diffraction gratings, lenses), verify and modify generated structures and materials, precisely cut materials.
The winners of the competition for the name of the dwarf will receive a grain of sand with a copy of the dwarf, and the competition participants will be invited to visit the labs and see this tiny figure under a microscope.
PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland
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