Multimedia Gallery
Image from 'Atom Art: Beauty at the Atomic Scale' exhibit
This image shows silicon nitride and highlights how differently atoms can organize in a material depending on how it was manufactured. All silicon nitride is composed of the same atoms, but those atoms can be arranged in very different ways. In this example, the silicon nitride, whose pattern is shown in the upper left, is much harder than the silicon nitride whose pattern is shown in the lower right.
More about this image
The image was created by Jim LeBeau, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at North Carolina State University, and was part of an exhibit he helped curate at the Museum of Life and Science titled " Atom Art: Beauty at the Atomic Scale."
The purpose of the exhibit was to show exactly what microscopy can do at the atomic-scale and explained how atoms are arranged, the patterns that they can make and how this is key to understanding a material's properties and how engineers can control those properties.
LeBeau wanted to show people that "we are now able to actually see atoms and the orderly way that atoms are arranged in a material. The beauty of these patterns highlights just how amazing nature is. Hopefully, we’ll reach young people who may not have otherwise thought about pursuing science."
LeBeau added, "Some of my work is supported by the National Science Foundation and NSF thinks it is important to share our discoveries with the public. I agree. By partnering with the Museum of Life and Science, we are able to help people of all ages understand how we can glean insights into what materials look like at the most fundamental level."
The exhibit ran from Sept. 20 to Nov. 20, 2016.
The research was supported in part by an NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award (DMR 13-50273). (Date image taken: 2013; date originally posted to NSF Multimedia Gallery: Jan. 25, 2017)
Credit: James M. LeBeau, Materials Science & Engineering, North Carolina State University
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