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London laboratory creates 'smallest' Christmas card

A focused ion beam microscope is not normally associated with Christmas.

But the festive spirit pops up in the most unusual places, including in a south-west London laboratory.

The National Physical Laboratory has produced what they say is the world’s smallest Christmas card, 15 micrometers wide and 20 micrometers tall.

It's made from platinum-coated silicon nitride, usually used in electronics, and the design was carved by the focused ion beam.

20 December 2017

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