Carbon on Fire
Creators
Description
Honorable mention In this image a thin layer of carbon atoms forms a lattice. (You can see the blue-green bumps interlocked in a tidy hexagonal pattern.) The center of this lattice is disrupted by the presence of a crystal defect; this influences the electrons of the central carbon atoms and alters the hexagonal configuration. Like a pebble dropped in a still pond, a small change in the middle ripples out, distorting the pattern all around it.This image is more like a contour or elevation map than a photograph. It was made with a Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM). Instead of using lenses like a camera, an STM uses a very fine needle to trace just above the surface of microscopic structures. Here, the surface height is color-coded: the white bumps are the tallest areas and the black depressions are lowest.Department of Materials Science & EngineeringTools & Techniques: Scanning Tunneling Microscope + colored in Photoshop
Abstract
This image originally appeared as part of Northwestern's Scientific Images Contest. The contest and subsequent exhibitions are organized by Science in Society, the university's research center for science education and public engagement. Further information and opportunities to participate are available on their website. Prints and canvas editions of these Northwestern research images can also be purchased online (with the small net profit going to science education and outreach programming in the Chicago area).Other
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Xiaolong Liu 2015 HM.jpg
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Additional details
Identifiers
- ARK
- ark:/c8131/g3t61q
Related works
Dates
- Created
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2015When the item was originally created.