Seeing the Unseen: Overcoming the limitations of optics to visualize nano-structures, atoms and even magnetic fields

The development of novel tools is of great importance to the advancement of science. New imaging methods in particular can bring a deeper understanding as we are used to grasping the world mainly by visualizing images.

When the limit of optical microscopy was reached, scientists found a way to enhance it and cheat their way beyond it. Eventually, they invented a whole different way of imaging - scanning probe microscopy. In this talk, Dr. Lachman will present the physics underlying the limits of optical microscopy, and talk about different types of scanning microscopes enabling the imaging of single atoms, magnetic fields, and electric currents on the nano-scale.

Speaker: Ella Lachman, UC Berkeley