Microscopic "mushrooms" will help to register nanoparticles
Physicists from the University of Washington devised a new method of registration of nanoparticles, which can not only calculate the mass, but the size of these objects. Article scientists have not yet accepted for publication, but its preprint available at arxiv.org.
Currently, the problem of detecting and measuring the mass of nanoparticles is very important. One of the most popular methods of registration are the following. Using laser beams, researchers remove the data on fluctuations of hyperfine plate. Particles hit it suggests changing the nature of fluctuation analysis which allows to calculate the mass of the object.
Main difficulties in this method two. Firstly, the nature of changes in vibrations of plates depends not only on the mass fraction, but also from its position on the plate. Second, random perturbations of the same laser beam "spoiling" the alarm, giving him plenty of noise. As part of the new physics from the University of Washington youthful axis overcome both these difficulties.
Instead of plates scientists used to register microscopic Toru - hollow "bagels." Obtained with this detector like microscopic fungi.
In a study physics managed to establish that such a detector is much better based on the plate. This is due to the fact that the waves caused by the particles that are studied, distributed by Toru in two directions. They can calibrate the signal from the detector so that possible to calculate the number of particles, their sizes and masses.