Nanocrystals' trapped atoms technology

Gina Miller writes "Nanotech Planet has an article explaining the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL) new process of trapping single atoms. The new technique allows them to study a single atom's properties using classic microscopy at room temperature without cooling. "We're looking perhaps at a new class of nano-scale materials with novel optical properties," said Barnes, a member of ORNL's Chemical and Analytical Chemistry Division. "The challenge we face will be in controlling this process and fully understanding the mechanism.""