Beautiful nanotechnology images from the Science as Art competition

(Nanowerk News) The 2007 Materials Research Society (MRS) Fall Meeting concluded in Boston on November 30. This was the first time that the popular Science as Art competition was held at an MRS Fall Meeting. Three first place and three second place winners were selected from the various entries. Some of the images are from the nanotechnology domain but most are micro-scale.

First place winners

Nano-Explosions Color-enhanced scanning electron micrograph of an overflowed electrodeposited magnetic nanowire array (CoFeB), where the template has been subsequently completely etched. Its a reminder that nanoscale research can have unpredicted consequences at a high level. (Image: Fanny Beron, École Polytechnique de Montréal, Montréal, Canada)

Bamboos for Vibration Control Ni-Mn-Ga melt-extracted fibers with an approximate diameter of 100 µm showing a bamboo-type structure (imaged with a backscattered electron detector in an FEG-SEM). Melt-extraction is a unique and novel method to prepare single-crystalline particles for magnetic shape memory composites. (Image: Oliver Gutfleisch, IFW Dresden, Institute of Metallic Materials, Dresden, Germany)

Dirty Dice Self-assembled 200 micron size nickel dice, imaged using scanning electron microscopy in the lower secondary electron (LEI) mode. The dice were colorized using Adobe Photoshop. (Image: Timothy Leong, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA)

Second place winners

Beauty of Nature SEM image of CuInSe 2 film with Cu 2Se (plates) and InSe (needles) crystals on the surface. (Image: Olga Volobujeva, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia)

Layered steps in Lanthanum Cobaltite The picture shows a colored image of the layered steps formed inside closed pores of La 0.8Ca 0.2CoO 3, which were revealed due to fracture of the material. (Image: Siddhartha Pathak, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA)