|
New
Release -- Superconductor Week does not edit or endorse the following
news release:
IBM Milestone Brings MRI Technology to the
Nanoscale
Achievement marks significant
advance toward the imaging of molecular structures
San Jose, CA, 22
April 2007: IBM today announced that researchers at its
Almaden Research Center
have demonstrated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to visualize
nanoscale objects. This technique brings MRI capability to the nanoscale level
for the first time and represents a major milestone in the quest to build a
microscope that could "see" individual atoms in three dimensions.
Using Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy (MRFM),
IBM researchers have demonstrated two-dimensional imaging of objects as small as
90 nanometers, a key advancement on the path of 3D imaging at the atomic scale.
Such imaging could ultimately provide a better understanding of how proteins
function, which in turn may lead to more efficient drug discovery and
development.
“Our ultimate goal is to perform
three-dimensional imaging of complex structures such as molecules with atomic
resolution,” said Dan Rugar, manager, Nanoscale Studies, IBM Research. “This
would allow scientists to study the atomic structures of molecules -- such as
proteins -- which would represent a huge breakthrough in structural molecular
biology."
MRFM offers imaging sensitivity that is 60,000
times better than current magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology. MRFM uses
what is known as force detection to overcome the sensitivity limitations of
conventional MRI to view structures that would otherwise be too small to be
detected.
To achieve this, the research team developed
specialized magnetic tips for their microscope, optimizing their ability to
manipulate and detect the very weak magnetism of atomic nuclei. Conventional
medical MRI typically operates on a scale at least 1,000 times coarser; even the
most specialized MRI microscopy is limited to about 3 micrometers, or 3,000
nanometers.
This achievement could eventually have major impact on the study of materials --
ranging from proteins and pharmaceuticals to integrated circuits -- for which a
detailed understanding of the atomic structure is essential. Knowing the exact
location of specific atoms within tiny nanoelectronic structures, for example,
would enhance designers' insight into manufacture and performance. The ability
to directly image the detailed atomic structure of proteins would aid the
development of new drugs.
For more than a decade, IBM researchers have been
making pioneering advancements in
MRFM. With this latest achievement, the team is now able to make images with
as few as 103 atoms as opposed to the 108 atoms required
to make an image with today’s MRI technology. This improved sensitivity extends
MRI into the nanometer realm. (The nanometer realm is typically considered to be
at dimensions below 100 nanometers; a nanometer is a billionth of a meter, the
length spanned by about 5-10 atoms.)
IBM Research has a distinguished history in developing microscopes for nanoscale
imaging and science. Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer of IBM's Zurich Research
Laboratory received the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics for their invention of the
scanning tunneling microscope, which can image individual atoms on electrically
conducting surfaces.
The report on this work, “Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging with 90-nm
resolution,” by H. J. Mamin1, M. Poggio1,2, C. L. Degen1
and D. Rugar1 at IBM Research Division1, Almaden Research
Center, San Jose, California and the Center for Probing the Nanoscale, Stanford
University2 will appear in the April 22 issue of Nature
Nanotechnology.
About the IBM Research Division
IBM Research
is the world's largest information technology research organization, with about
3,000 scientists and engineers in eight labs in six countries. IBM has produced
more research breakthroughs than any other company in the IT industry. For more
information on IBM Research, visit
http://www.research.ibm.com.
Return
to industry news releases |
