December 17, 2007

Technion Researchers Succeed in Putting Entire Bible on Head of Pin

Technion researchers have succeeded in putting a full version of the Hebrew Bible, with
vowel points, on 0.5 square millimeters – an area smaller than the size of a pinhead.

The nano-Bible was written as part of an educational program developed by the Russell
Berrie Nanotechnology Institute. The program aims to increase interest, on the part of
youth, in nanoscience and nanotechnology. The idea to write the entire Bible on an area
smaller than a pinhead was conceived of by Prof. Uri Sivan, head of the Nanotechnology
Institute. The project was managed by physics’ doctoral student Ohad Zohar, the
institute’s scientific advisor for educational programs, together with Dr. Alex Lahav,
former head of the FIB laboratory in the Wolfson Microelectronics Research and
Teaching Center.

The nano-Bible was written using a scientific device called FIB – Focused Ion Beam.
With the aid of this device, it was possible to send focused beams of tiny particles
(gallium ions) towards a specific object. When the particles hit the object, they cause the
atoms of that object to bounce off of it, thus etching it. This is similar to digging a small
hole in the earth using a water jet from a hose.

The nano-Bible was written on a silicon surface covered with a thin layer of gold (20
nanometers thick). “When we send the particle beam toward a point on the surface, the
gold atoms bounce off of this point, thus exposing the silicon layer underneath. The
diameter of the exposed point is about 40 nanometers. When we look at the written
example using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), the exposed silicon point looks
darker than the gold surrounding it. By sending a particle beam towards various points on
the substrate, we can etch any pattern of points, especially one that represents text,”
explains Ohad Zohar.

The structure of the nano-Bible was built using a special software developed in the
project’s framework, which enables etching text on the surface layer.

The nano-Bible project is part of an educational program that asks the following
question: “How small can the Bible be?” The program uses this intriguing question in
order to investigate modern methods of creating miniature structures and imaging on a
nanometric scale, to present advanced technology for high-density information storage
and to discuss future topics such as information storage using DNA molecules or other
bio-molecules.
“The fact that the Bible contains a lot of information (some 10 million bits) – is the main
thing. We are aware of many ideas for high-density information storage, but almost
always, an attempt to apply these ideas for large quantities of information exposes new
challenges and, in the end, leads to deeper understanding of the proposed method and its
limitations,” say the Technion researchers.

“The nano-Bible project demonstrates the ability of miniaturization at our disposal. We

are working hard at present on photographing the nano-Bible using the SEM, with the
aim of enlarging the photo by 10,000 times and displaying it on a giant wall in the
Technion’s Faculty of Physics. In this picture, which will be 7 meters by 7 meters, it will
be possible to read the entire Bible with the naked eye (the height of each letter will be
some 3 millimeters). Near this picture, the original – the nano-Bible itself, which is the
size a grain of sugar – will be displayed,” explains Ohad Zohar.

Pictured: The first part of the Bible, as photographed from the nano-Bible by SEM.

Technion spokesman, Amos Levav: 052-4524873