Scientists present smallest man-made lattice structure

Scientists at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology present the smallest lattice structure made by man in the Nature Materials journal ("Approaching theoretical strength in glassy carbon nanolattices"). Its struts and braces are made of glassy carbon and are less than 1 µm long and 200 nm in diameter. They are smaller than comparable metamaterials by a factor of 5. The small dimension results in so far unreached ratios of strength to density. Applications as electrodes, filters or optical components might be possible.