Researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, Md., developed a new microscopy technique that uses a process similar to how an old tube television produces a picture-cathodoluminescence-to image nanoscale features. Combining the best features of optical and scanning electron microscopy, the fast, versatile, and high-resolution technique allows scientists to view surface and subsurface features potentially as small as 10 nm in size.

Researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Calif., created movies of irreversible reactions that occur too rapidly to capture with conventional microscopy for the first time. The team used multi-frame, nanosecond-scale imaging in the dynamic transmission electron microscope (DTEM) to create movies of the crystallization of phase change materials used for optical and resistive memory.

Sulzer Metco, Switzerland, introduces MetcoClad, a robotics-based laser cladding system that can apply welded deposits on multi-dimensional surfaces in a single cladding run. The robust systems simplify operability, reduce production set-up time, and monitor the cladding process. Part manipulation can be tailored to customer requirements.