Smallest 3D map: IBM researchers sets world record (Video)
Zurich, Switzerland -- IBM scientists have created a miniature world map which measures a miniscule 22 by 11 micrometres (1,000 maps of the size would fit on just one grain of salt) - setting the world record for the Smallest 3D map, according to World Records Academy (www.worldrecordsacademy.org). Photo: The World's Smalleest 3D Map by IBM researchers in Zurich measures a miniscule 22 by 11 micrometres, 1,000 maps of the size would fit on just one grain of salt. All Images courtesy of Advanced Materials (enlarge photo)
The Guinness world record for the Largest collection of maps was set by the US Library of Congress Geography and Map Division, Washington, D.C., USA, which has custody of the largest and most comprehensive cartographic collection in the world with collections numbering over 4.5 million maps.
Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the largest map printed measured; it 6 m x 11 m (19 ft 8 in x 36 ft 1 in) and was created and presented by the State Geodetic Administration of the Republic of Croatia in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
The map was "written" on a polymer and is composed of 500,000 pixels, each measuring 20 by 2 nanometres and was created in just two minutes and 23 seconds.
Existing nano-techniques struggle to make structures smaller than 30 nanometres and are expensive to use.
But, this new technique uses a nanoscale tip -- 100,000 times smaller than a sharpened pencil -- to cheaply create 2D and 3D patterns and structures as small as 15 nanometres. (enlarge photo)
The etching technique the machine uses is similar to how Egyptian's chiseled away at stone to create drawings and hieroglyphics, the scientists said.
The technique opens new prospects for making nanosized electronics and objects in fields ranging from future chip technology to opto-electronics to medicine and life sciences, the researchers reported in the journal Science and Advanced Materials.
