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Sub-Atomic Scale Letters

subatomicscaleletters_stanforduniversity_2009-web

Letters drawn at sub-atomic scale by researchers Hari Manoharan, Laila Mattos, and Chris Moon – carbon monoxide atoms placed carefully on a copper substrate, whose interference patterns resolve into letters. A very cool addition: the letters S and U (for Stanford University, where the research took place) are actually encoded on top of each other.

See this NSF page for a video explaining the process in detail.

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Allotropes of carbon

Eight structures made of carbon: diamond, graphite, Buckminsterfullerene, C540, C70, amorphous carbon, and single-walled carbon nanotube
Eight structures made of carbon: diamond, graphite, Buckminsterfullerene, C540, C70, amorphous carbon, and single-walled carbon nanotube

Using the same element (in this case carbon), different arrangements can result in wholly different structures known as allotropes.  From Wikipedia:

For example, carbon has 3 common allotropes: diamond, where the carbon atoms are bonded together in a tetrahedral lattice arrangement, graphite, where the carbon atoms are bonded together in sheets of a hexagonal lattice, and fullerenes, where the carbon atoms are bonded together in spherical, tubular, or ellipsoidal formations.

I love the permutations and simplicity and am imagining an art practice that restricts itself chemically.  It would be known as “Atomic Minimalism” and artists would restrict themselves to single elements, varying only their structure.