World s thinnest chain
Adam Cohen and his team at the University of Southern California have built what is probably the world's thinnest chain. The chain is about as thick as a sheet of paper and has 6 moving links. The most exciting thing about the chain is not its size but the process by which it is fabricated. Called the electrochemical fabrication process, it can produce 3D micro-devices in a simple, automated way. Traditional micro-fabrication requires expensive customised processes and clean rooms. This technique promises to reduce the manufacturing cost of micro-devices ( Nature , Vol 399, p23).