The Molecule ‘Scanner’: World’s Smallest Terahertz Detector Invented
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130805223512.htm

Aug. 5, 2013 — Molecules could soon be “scanned” in a fashion similar to imaging screenings at airports, thanks to a detector developed by University of Pittsburgh physicists.

The detector, featured in a recent issue of Nano Letters, may have the ability to chemically identify single molecules using terahertz radiation — a range of light far below what the eye can detect.

“Our invention allows lines to be ‘written’ and ‘erased’ much in the manner that an Etch A Sketch® toy operates,” said study coauthor Jeremy Levy, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy within the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. “The only difference is that the smallest feature is a trillion times smaller than the children’s toy, able to create conductive lines as narrow as two nanometers.”

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