Double-laser approach makes one thin line

Michelangelo couldn’t have chiseled David’s features with the edge of a backhoe. But just such a challenge faces scientists working in the infinitesimally small world of nanolithography, the ultratiny writing used to make computer chips, solar cells and other devices. Now three reports, published online April 9 in Science, introduce new methods to erase and stencil patterns, putting a finer point on the tools used to sculpt and write in the incredibly shrinking nanoworld.