December 23, 2014

Hands on: Crafting ultrathin color coatings




IN HARVARD’S HIGH-TECH CLEANROOM, APPLIED PHYSICISTS PRODUCE VIVID OPTICAL EFFECTS—ON PAPER

In a sub-basement deep below the Laboratory for Integrated Science and Engineering at Harvard University, Mikhail Kats gets dressed. Mesh shoe covers, a face mask, a hair net, a pale gray jumpsuit, knee-high fabric boots, vinyl gloves, safety goggles, and a hood with clasps at the collar—these are not to protect him, Kats explains, but to protect the delicate equipment and materials inside the cleanroom.