Microscopic Radio Sets Miniaturization Record

This image, taken by a transmission electron microscope, shows a single carbon nanotube protruding from an electrode. This nanotube is less than a micron long and only 10 nanometers wide, or 10,000 times thinner than the width of a single human hair. When a radio wave of a specific frequency impinges on the nanotube, it begins to vibrate vigorously. An electric field applied to the nanotube forces electrons to be emitted from its tip.(The waves shown in this image were added for visual effect, and are not part of the original microscope image. Credit: Zettl Research Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Berkeley