This month’s image shows the crystal structure of a cobalt-base superalloy at atomic resolution (image width: 12 nm) recorded using scanning transmission electron microscopy. Superalloys of this type are produced to withstand extreme environments with temperatures above 1000 °C. In the image, you ca...

This light microscope image shows few layers of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), a layered crystal held together by van der Waals forces, on a thin gold film. These very thin MoS2 flakes were made by cleaving the natural layered bulk crystal, with the gold film serving as a stabilizer. The color of the ...

This month’s image shows a comet-like particle gracefully navigating the (nano)cosmos. The particle is the result of an annealing experiment with a gold/nickel thin film on a zinc oxide substrate. An unexpected reaction of nickel with zinc oxide produced a tail trailing a gold particle. The image w...

Hopefully your spring cleaning is already done! Here you can see the world’s smallest broom in action. This SEM image shows a small metal tip used for cleaning surfaces on the nanoscale - in this case graphene, the thinnest material in existence (a single atomic layer of carbon). Graphene is cleane...

The transition from the colder winter and spring days to the upcoming summer with higher temperatures is in full swing. While people and nature are happily anticipating the warmer days, higher temperatures can also have a detrimental impact on the environment. Especially in the smallest length scale...