IBM scientists have created the smallest 3D map of the earth - so small that 1000 maps could fit on a grain of salt*. The scientists accomplished this through a new, breakthrough technique that uses a tiny, silicon tip with a sharp apex -- one million times smaller than an ant -- to create patterns and structures as small as 15 nanometers at greatly reduced cost and complexity. This patterning technique opens new prospects for developing nanosized objects in fields such as electronics, future chip technology, medicine, life sciences, and opto-electronics.
