let me introduce the nanoscope :)

[Comandante]

You've probably heard of x-ray crystallography as it is a very common and useful technique used to analyse bond distances, angles etc - in simple terms - probe the atomic arrangement in crystals. Last year we had to learn in-depth how this method works and the apparatus behind it so I got that down pretty well. If you're already wondering - NO I don't know how to make one at home However, something occured to me recently. If you think about it, those green lasers have a bit smaller wavelength than the red ones, at around 532nm, and they are also better-visible to the human eye, not to mention that a decently-powered green laser can be purchased for around $80 these days. That said, you'll know why I wanted to probe a nano-engineered surface with my green laser

 

It worked as I expected, resolution was a bit poor (due to difference in wavelength size and nano-work scale) but useful nevertheless! I took a recent genuine Intel CPU box and scanned it around for nanosignatures, wasn't long before I found one I posted a video online so you can have a look here: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1287916/using_green_laser_to_reveal_invisible_objects/

 

If anyone tries this method on other nanotech objects could you please be kind to let us know what you found, would like to see more examples

[John Cuthber]

Very neat, but that image is produced by microscale, rather than nanoscale, printing/

[Comandante]

Really? How can you know? I assumed it'd be nanosig because I get better resolution with smaller wavelengths.. explain for me? Perhaps I should look this sticker under a microscope

[thedarkshade]

That seemed pretty good and pretty simple. Great work Sysco.

[John Cuthber]

About the simplest nanoscale object you could get would be a grating with a spacing of about 100nm ie 0.1micron. Try putting that into this calculator with sensible values for the distance to the screen and the wavelength.

http://www.ee.byu.edu/cleanroom/diffraction.phtml

 

On the other hand, you might be able to see something of the structure with a microscope.

[Klaynos]

You can "see" some details of subwavelength periodic structures through things like surface plasmon polaritons, this is how most metamaterials work...