Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have developed a super-compact high-resolution microscope, small enough to fit on a finger tip. The ‘microscopic microscope’ operates without lenses, but has the magnifying power of a top quality optical microscope.

The new instrument combines traditional computer-chip technology with microfluidics – the channelling of flow fluid flow at incredibly small scales. An entire optofluidic chip is about the size of a quarter, although the part of the device that images objects is only size of Washington’s nose on that quarter.

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Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have achieved a significant advance in nanoscale lithographic technology used in the manufacture of computer chips and other electronic devices, to make finer patterns of lines over larger areas than have been possible with other methods.

This new technique could pave the way for next-generation computer memory and integrated circuit-chips, as well as advanced solar cells and other devices.

The team has created lines around 25 nanometers wide, separated by 25nm spaces. In comparison, the most advanced commercially available computer chips today have a minimum feature size of 65nm, while Intel recently announced it would start manufacturing at 32nm minimum line width scale in 2009.

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