Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!wuarchive!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!nanotech From: merkle@parc.xerox.com (Ralph Merkle) Newsgroups: sci.nanotech Subject: Atomic-precision writing at room temperature Message-ID: Date: 19 Feb 91 03:55:43 GMT Sender: nanotech@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 15 Approved: nanotech@aramis.rutgers.edu The Economist of February 2nd, 1991, page 82, said (paraphrased for brevity): Shigeyuki Hosoki and his colleagues at Hitachi's Central Research Laboratory in Tokyo removed individual sulfur atoms from a crystal surface of molybdenum-disulphide at room temperature in vacuum by applying very short five-volt pulses to an STM tip. They spelled out "PEACE '91 HCRL". A picture accompanied the article. The surface had a hexagonal grid, so the letters were somewhat crooked. [Wow. Any idea how long the probe tip lasts, i.e. does it disintegrate and/or get clogged with sulfur atoms? --JoSH]