This vacuum-sealed oven in Edmonton, Alberta, is a glorified nano box spring factory. Its electron beam evaporation system heats a source - often zirconia or silicon oxide - until it emits atoms that accumulate on a silicon wafer and form tendrils. Electrical engineer Michael Brett then moves the wafer to shape the growths into coils, columns, or zigzags. Brett, in collaboration with Dutch electronics giant Philips, has devised a way to insert liquid crystal between micrometer-long springs to produce more efficient flat-panel displays. Other apps include precise humidity sensors and ultrathin insulators for machine parts. At the University of Alberta's new fabrication plant, Brett recently began imprinting the wafers with a microscopic pattern of dots, forcing the springs to form in a regular array. This technique could open the door to new types of photonic crystals that bend, reflect, and filter light. "We have no trouble thinking up applications," says Brett. "It's finding time to develop them that's hard."
ELECTRIC WORD
Spring Bake
In The Out Door
Wind Instruments
Photosynthesis
Mockroach
Inside Track
