MRI resolution reaches 90 nm

Researchers in the US have used an alternative form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to visualize objects with a resolution of just 90 nm. The best conventional MRI microscopes, in contrast, typically have a resolution of about 3 microns. The researchers claim that the technique, known as magnetic resonance force microscopy, could be used to map out the structure of nanometre-scale structures such as proteins and pharmaceutical drugs.

Although the new microscope represents a major improvement in MRI microscopy, the measurements had to be done in a vacuum chamber at temperatures as low as 600 mK in order to minimize noise in the cantilever. As a result, measurements cannot be made under ambient conditions, which precludes its use in the study of many of materials – particularly some biological samples.

http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/6/4/22/1