Microscope on a chip

An electron microscope small enough to fit onto your fingertip will be four times more powerful than the best microscopes available today, claims its designers. Scanning electron microscopes(SEMs) focus a beam of electrons instead of light, and can capture stunning images of tiny structures with a 3D appearance. The very best can distinguish structures as small as 0.05 nanometre – roughly the distance between a hydrogen nucleus and its electron. Physicist Derek Eastham of UK firm NFAB thinks he can achieve a resolution around four times better – as low as 0.01 nanometre.