As the centenary of Anzac approached, there have been many tributes to one of the largest events in the Australian calendar – but none as small as this.
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UNSW Canberra and Australian National University student Evgeny Mironov has used nanotechnology tools to create an Anzac tribute which is only 300 nanometres wide, parts of which are the same size as a red blood cell.
The image features two diggers standing on either side of the diagram, one looking down and holding a rifle while the other is playing the Last Post on a bugle.
In between stands the ANZAC crest and the Ode of Remembrance, which was read out at the centenary dawn service on Saturday morning.
Dr Mironov said the image had been created using a focused ion beam which fired accelerated gallium ions into a miniature gold plate on top of a quartz substrate, according to a preprogrammed pattern.
"The structure has the dimensions of 375 micrometers by 375 micrometers, with the smallest features of only one micrometre in size," he said.
Dr Mironov said he had been conducting different experiments with the beam before deciding to put it through its paces.
"We had this very special equipment but we're doing simple patterns – very regular shapes, like an array of holes or stripes," he said.
"They're very simple structures. I wanted to see if equipment can manufacture something very complicated. So I thought what sort of shape should I choose, something not just for my own entertainment."
In the end, Dr Mironov said he chose the focus on important dates, creating one tribute for International Woman's Day and one for Anzac Day.
"The project took three days to design the structure, while the construction itself required two hours for the metal deposition and then 40 minutes for the milling process, the process in which you carve the pattern," he said.
Dr Mironov said other projects he was working on included as a 3D miniature map of the island of Manhattan, in New York.
