Overview

• The 35-micron-long, 13-micron-wide platinum violin was etched in roughly three hours using thermal scanning probe lithography inside a sealed glovebox.
• The experiment served as a proof-of-concept for Loughborough’s NanoFrazor-based nanolithography system, enabling controlled nanoscale patterning.
• The NanoFrazor tool uses a heated, needle-like tip to burn precise designs into a resist layer, after which platinum is deposited and excess material dissolved.
• Researchers are already leveraging the system to explore alternative magnetic data storage methods with quantum materials.
• Another team is investigating how precise heat gradients could drive faster and more energy-efficient data processing for future computing devices.