Measuring just 0.015 mm high and having a footprint of 0.02 mm by 0.01 mm, this house is undoubtedly the smallest to be ever constructed. For some perspective, the average diameter of a single human hair is 0.09 mm. Fitted with seven windows, a door, tiled roof, and a chimney, this micro house was built using the techniques of what is essentially origami.
Starting off with a sheet of silica as the building material being placed on top of a cleaved optical fiber SMF28, a dual beam scanning electron microscope (SEM)/focused ion beam (FIB) Auriga 60 from Zeiss was used to cut out the shape of the house on silica, which was then folded into place by a six degree of freedom robot built with SmarAct components.
Led by engineer Jean-Yves Rauc of Femto-ST Institute, a research organization in Besançon, France, this micro house was made possible by combining the several technologies mentioned above into one vacuum sealed chamber device called the μROBOTEX platform. The level of complexity surrounding the building of the micro house showcases the immense potential and capabilities for nanotechnologies to greatly improve the industries of STEM, further opening up a whole new world of what the possibilities and limitations are for nanotechnology.
To learn more about this micro house, click the link below.
