Making the World's Smallest Play Button (2^12 subscriber special)

For this project I got the chance to show off one of my favorite tools from work, the Focused Ion Beam! In this video, I use the FIB to 3d print and etch away material at the nanoscale, making a youtube play button that's only 1 hundredth of a millimeter across. It's made of an amorphous mix of platinum and carbon, and it's so small you need an electron microscope to see it properly. Enjoy!
Also: Thanks to all my subscribers!
Also also: Leave comments for new fabrication techniques for the 2^13 button!
Also also also: I started a Facebook page for AlphaPhoenix! Follow the page and share with your friends! / alphaphoenixchannel
That was a lot of exclamation marks… - here's the extra stuff:
#WorldRecord #Nanoscale #Microscope
Filmed in the Materials department at UCSB with permission.
Music in this video:
I Dunno by grapes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
ccmixter.org/files/grapes/16626
BoogieBounce by Drew Banga is licensed under a Creative Commons license

[@why_though]

The older I get the more I learn that science is about plugging million dollar machines into 20 year old computers...

[@tobilos_gaming]

fr

[@aeonremnant]

Oh man you have no idea how deep that rabbit hole goes. The amount of horrifically outdated hardware saturating the scientific market is absolutely hilarious. No 12th gen Intel or Ryzen 5000, none of that. Don’t even consider DDR5 or PCI-E 4.0+, none of that. NAH BOY, WE’RE DOING AN I7 2600, WOOO! TEN GENERATIONS OUT OF DATE!!!

[@clapanse]

@@aeonremnant i7? Forget i7, I've seen a number of machines running expensive scientific or engineering equipment that still have floppy drives.

[@aeonremnant]

@@clapanse Yike. xD

[@indianumberonecountry]

@@clapanse why is that? Wouldnt it be more efficient by time and money standards to upgrade the hardware and software? Seems silly to use outdated equipment like that

[@brendanchen1317]

How has KZbin hidden such quality scientific content from me?

[@Upioti]

Because... "Amogus Troll 12313IQ *3:00 AM* WITH MY GIRFELIEND AND FRIENDS *DONT DO THIS AT HOME* *COPS CALLED* FUNNY MOMENTS AMONG US" Gives them more money

[@p6nj]

@@Upioti amongous

[@fjs1111]

@@p6nj a fungus?

[@jannikheidemann3805]

@@fjs1111 Yes, a certain type of nasty brain fungus.

[@dapz]

Wow. Idk what else to say, but this was super interesting to watch

[@RENO_K]

I hope to see a 2¹⁶ play button soon

[@BobAndrews69]

What are you doing here

[@ianthethird7955]

dapz heyyy

[@dapz]

@@BobAndrews69 This channel just vibes with my interests

[@BobAndrews69]

@@dapz it really is a good channel

[@kit9556]

Waiting for this to be in Daily Dose of Internet for the world’s smallest youtube playbutton.

[@sgdadfgdfgadbdfbd]

ah yes content stealing

[@demonsluger]

@@sgdadfgdfgadbdfbd The most preferred and easiet way to make youtube content.

[@zyansheep]

@@demonsluger and reddit content!

[@wowsuchhandle]

Ah yes basically meme compilation channel.

[@LeoStaley]

When are we getting our 2^14 video? You're In my top 5 favorite science youtubers at this point, and I've been collecting science youtubers in my subscriptions for 7 years, with easily 300 or 400 creators in the list.

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

It’s all filmed but I’m looking for time to edit - I’m wrapping up my dissertation in the next few weeks and then moving, so unfortunately KZbin is taking a back burner. Glad you’re enjoying the channel! In terms of using gallium ions, the liquid does help I think, but the filament is heated so more options than gallium exist. I think gallium may have a favorable ionization something... energy or ratio of singly ionized species or something - don’t quote me on that one though...

[@haliplays8971]

Hey can you list some of those science you tubers down I’ve also been collecting them lol I’m a sucker for knowledge

[@haliplays8971]

@@LeoStaley thank you so much I’ll make sure to go check them out!

[@hullinstruments]

@@haliplays8971 how could you forget a few of these…? 😁 Applied science, Marco reps, fermi lab, breaking taps, tech ingredients, thought emporium, les’s lab, zenodilodon, Photonic induction, smarter every day, strange parts, William Osman, Carl Willis, physics anonymous, Veritasium, physics girl, new mind, stuff made here, The engineer guy, Steve mould and countless others

[@nekomimicatears]

@@hullinstruments jesus christ you forgot electroboom

[@nathanbush4727]

I was legitimately shocked when I subscribed and saw less than 100k subscribers. This channel deserves so many more! Let’s make this man make many more play buttons!

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Man I don’t know is what it is now cause I’m still in bed and it’s been rocketing but a week ago it was 18k

[@OCOWA_]

​@@AlphaPhoenixChannel I'm actually amazed you're still only at 230k right now. Keep up the good work, you're already ubiquitous in my mind as one of the educational content creators. If I could invest in your future success, I would.

[@thecolorblindphotographer2511]

Man, this is quite amazing. I really hope you reach a larger audience! Endure, eventually the Algorithm will choose you!!

[@rytan4516]

I come here from the Algorithm. It appears It chose him!

[@kit9556]

And youtube algorith brought me here.

[@bekr3473]

I come from the vacuume seal gasket video wich was suggested by the algorithm.

[@niam.]

gerrymandering video for me

[@Dhirajkumar-ls1ws]

seems like algo is recommending his channel now.

[@bowenheinrich]

came here from steve mould. staying here forever

[@Empolitano]

Same here!! Hahaah

[@aniksamiurrahman6365]

Knurd!

[@sti_clone3840]

This is more that what some channels would do for their 1 million sub goal lol

[@misterlocapone6604]

Craziest quality ever. Mind blowing

[@franteryda4730]

Steve mould sent me. Otherwise who knows when I would have found this channel!

[@GRBtutorials]

Same. Though now I realise I’ve actually already watched one of his videos, the soldering iron fumes video. IDK why I didn’t subscribe then (or is KZbin messing with my subscriptions again?)

[@gervaiscurrie6675]

Same here - strange that such a great channel seems to almost 'hidden' by YT..

[@unvergebeneid]

@@gervaiscurrie6675 ikr!

[@daphenomenalz4100]

Same

[@bradtito3309]

Same here

[@fernandobustosjimenez9949]

This is absolutely nuts!! Man, human intelligence never ceases to amaze me. The fact that we have machines that can carve 250 atoms wide letters is completely fascinating to me. Thank u so much for the way you transmit all this cool knoweledge and make it accesible to all of us. Keep it up!!!

[@GediMini]

Oh wow, this is some great content. Get ready to make a lot more of these buttons :)

[@AtariWow]

Next one will need top be seen from space

[@unvergebeneid]

This channel is criminally undersubscribed. Proof that the algorithm doesn't know what it's doing.

[@TheBrohomie]

I cant imagine how expensive that piece of equipment is lol

[@hchskxnbcj]

they are using this crappy keyboard and such a machine.

[@TheBrohomie]

@@hchskxnbcj if it aint broken dont fix it lol

[@awesomestuff9715]

i did some quick research, and buying that machine used would cost around 300k usd

[@JaredConnell]

@@hchskxnbcj they couldn't afford a new keyboard at that price

[@anelpasic5232]

@@hchskxnbcj No need to re-invent the wheel.

[@crazyotto3126]

I know nobody will read this, but I actually worked on a even smaller scale not so long ago. I had the chance to work on an electronlithographie machine, which was capable to "print" structures with an diameter of 2 nm. Of course i used this multi million euro machine which is one of the most advanced systems in the world to print a smiley. But unfortunally one can just manipulate the upper most layer on the probe, and has to do some chemical processing to be able to see the result. But also, great video and good explanation :)

[@NicolasCorder]

I discovered your channel a few days ago and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT, you are hilarious, smart, and teach things in a really easy to understand way. Love it man, I watch each one

[@GuildOfCalamity]

Love seeing that good 'ol Windows XP lab software!

[@Delibro]

Hahhaha I just searched the comments if someone else is coming up with this :D

[@larryscott3982]

“Now we’re cooking with gas” How many viewers remember that TV ad?

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

that was an ad? lol

[@bluethumbbuttoneek9465]

I always thought it went " now we're cooking with cresco"

[@larryscott3982]

@@bluethumbbuttoneek9465 No Imperial Margarine !!

[@ufffd]

@@AlphaPhoenixChannel it was part of an ad campaign by gas companies! Adam Ragusea just did a deep dive on this.

[@GlawberOliveira]

I just can’t fathom why this channel doesn’t have more subscribers. This is amazing science!

[@ananthropomorphictalkinggo6641]

I have always wondered how nanoscale things were created, this is incredible.

[@Mortomi]

you just hit my recommended, lets hope you get picked by the algorithm today!

[@markwhi1]

Congratulations on reaching 2^12! Best of luck with your studies, and I hope the time intervals are shrinking as your subscriber count grows... looking forward to 2^13!

[@BottleMakesStuff]

Super cool video! My day job (and what pays the bills) is assembling and testing scanning electron microscopes. I have a lot of fun doing drift and resolution tests at 500,000 times magnification on ~1nm features. That FIB and GIS look like a lot of fun too!

[@TimCortesi]

Gotta love academia... super impressive equipment hooked up to an ancient PC running Windows XP.

[@Variety_Pack]

Thanks, Susan, for sending me this channel. I want this guy to blow up so he has to make a bunch of play buttons, and I want to see just what wild methods he can come up with!

[@JadianRadiator]

4:16 Thanks for reminding me of something I heard about about an electron microscope. Someone had accidentally chipped off a piece of the "emitter." Which had ended up increasing the efficiency and quality of the image.

[@jimwednt1229]

WOW ! Technology being used here is the culmination of hundreds of years of the greatest advancements in science and technology . The epitome of all of it !

[@berttorpson2592]

This is awesome. The algorithm knows me and knows you. So nice to meet you

[@coyotedomino]

this is one of the coolest things i’ve ever seen, for real. and educational too :0

[@ylette]

I love videos about how advanced scientific instruments work.

[@rqlk]

This reminds me of someone who documented his job working with locomotives on his KZbin channel. I find insight into unique occupations really interesting, keep doing this

[@Webtroter]

Crazy!!! I remember that intro. Watched it years ago. Happy to get here again, thanks to steve Mould.

[@ohchristusername]

Glad that this was recommended to me, deserves more views!

[@capturethephotons2078]

We love your channel!! we need some more awsome content!! Love the polaris stabilization and timelapse stuff. The roll off Observatory is amazing!

[@anthonyd.8067]

You should be up to the 2^20s already. Great channel am excited to watch it grow exponentially.

[@mumiemonstret]

If the carbon atoms are in no particular order I think you can just as well call them diamond particles. And you totally deserve a diamond-platinum play button!

[@jannikheidemann3805]

Diamond is a very ordered structure: a crystal.

[@kimmy_future4265]

That is really amazing! Congrats!

[@elcascomenda96]

I love you, been wasting 3 days of my life binging your videos and I love it, hope you go viral :)

[@GoldSrc_]

I hope you get more subscribers, I think the first video I watched from you was the iridium flares one and you had just a few subs. But it seems that the algorithm finally saw you, good luck and keep up the good work.

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

I've seen your name in the comments a bunch. Thanks! That iridium flare video is a deep cut lol - I think they deorbited them all in the intervening years unfortunately

[@nirvana613]

Discovered this channel just now and I can already tell this is going to be a good one. Subscribed and looking forward to some more awesome content !

[@sbjuice622]

I use the same system every day mainly for imaging, and did not know you could import a bitmap for patterning...so many ideas. Love your channel!!!

[@lukeheinrich3749]

Bro this is so cool you need way more views! Keep up the dope vids!!

[@jero37]

Looks like I missed 2^15, but it's nice being an early part of 2^16.

[@evan1337dune]

This was a really amazing video, you should have at least a million subscribers by now with this kind of stuff

[@freakingramses488]

You’ve been popping up like crazy after your algorithm video, I’m so happy you came into my life; subscription and binge watching time.

[@armybirds]

same boat here, also a brockhampton fan? let's goooo

[@CharlesVanNoland]

Never heard "now we're cooking with gas" be used in such a punny way: literally cooking w/ platinum gas.

[@BasedBidoof]

woah, that's one of the coolest things I've ever seen on youtube

[@antongolovko1149]

Truly wow, amazing video! You have really good quality. Just keep up the good work, you will eventually start to get more views.

[@maybeonastick]

10:27 This really looks like it's photoshopped on the moons surface. I like it

[@akaHarvesteR]

You sir, deserve a lot more bits in that sub count!

[@renzokerk1999]

Wow i think that was the best subscriber special I have seen so far. Really nice :)

[@runringlee8100]

Looking forward to the 2^20 special. The day will come. And it will be soon.

[@UnipornFrumm]

its so small you cant see it,but it is there ,it exists what i wonder if you can in 1 year or 2 to put this back in the electron beam miroscope to see if anything changed,if it faded or degraded,awesome video

[@juanmanuelcalderon4966]

This video si completely amazing your videos are really well produced, you’ll be doing more buttons if you keep up like that

[@TheQuicksilver115]

This is freaking awesome!

[@Lucius.Hercules]

i recently subscribed after seeing one of the previous 2^x celebration videos but for some reason i saw the scan of the button in the background and thought maybe it was just some special black and white photography or something ?? but no this was far more intriguing and amazingly tiny!

[@Zappygunshot]

The engineering on this is ridiculous. It's one thing to capture electrons blasted through a surface so small you could destroy it by breathing on it, and it's another thing entirely to etch stuff into that and deposit material onto it on that kind of scale; but the most impressive thing I feel is the fact that that machine can pull a vacuum so complete that it practically eliminates all interference, and that you can create an environment wherein that little piece of copper has only _very_ minute amounts of "bits" stuck to it. Given the amount of random crap that floats around in the air at all times, that's a practically impossible ask, and yet, here it is, in all its glory, for us to see and you to work with. Science is nuts man.

[@covodex516]

Im glad Steve Mould linked me to you, such an interesting channel!

[@MarkRLeach]

Excellent video! I am an organic/organometallic chemist so I was fascinated to see the cyclopentadienyl Pt complexes used in this way. Well Cool. I also shoot a bit of astrophotography using Sony a6000 + Samyang 12mm. Keep up the good work, with videos of this quality your channel will soon explode with numbers!

[@joachimsingh2929]

Wow what a gold mine of a KZbin channel!

[@skivvy3565]

You do excellent work, keep it up buddy

[@trollenz]

3:00 I heard liquid crystals saying : "WTF IS GOING ON ?!?" 🤣🤣

[@Scrogan]

Oh man. It’s pretty interesting to see how the electron microscope sees things differently, especially how it’s “lighting up” the area with its own electrons and causing unconventional shadows to appear. Makes me wonder if by measuring the deflected electrons’ energies you could process the image with false colour. Be pretty tough to beat this for your next milestone, perhaps a silicon MEMS play button or light emitting/otherwise doped semiconductor play button for the small scale. On the large scale there are a fair variety of interesting chemical processes and unusual CNCs that you could attempt. Even growing a plant into a play button could be an interesting task.

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

You can totally process for the energy of electrons coming back - it's the reason most modern SEMs come with a bunch of different detector geometries and energy sensitivities. you can extract all kinds of information! If you want to get really fancy, you can look at the x-rays that come off the material when you hit it with the beam, because those can fingerprint specific elements. search for "EDS map SEM" and you'll get all kinds of awesome shots of compositionally-colormapped micrographs. As for the weird shadows and whatnot, SEMs are way cool in that they form an image with only one pixel's worth of sensor - the electron beam just only lights up one tiny spot on the sample at a time, and one by one, the beam lights up a new spot, the value is read off the "single pixel" detector, and the beam moves to a new spot. it's why the screen refresh was always top-to-bottom, it literally has to scan over the whole image to see it. I thought about making a camera like that (laser on a gimbal and a single photodiode detector feed into an audio recorder or something) but haven't gotten around to it yet.

[@ReidVorbach]

excited for what etching wizardry will be pulled off the 2^{~18} play button

[@SamirPatnaik]

What an absolute madlad!

[@debajyotimajumder8503]

pretty cool...loved it man

[@shane349]

First video I watch and it's using the systems I fix... great vid and great intro description

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Haha cool! Do you work for FEI or at a user facility like this?

[@shane349]

Work for their service agents in Canada as a field service eng, they actually got bought out by Thermo Fischer a few years back

[@supernuke]

This kinda means that he was the first to get a platinum play button. Take notes KZbin.

[@cpage4340]

The algorithm has chosen you today.

[@anthonydesouza9983]

Can we all appreciate the effort that went into this video for only 4096 subscribers?

[@keldanchapman7419]

How am I only discovering this now, this stuff is awesome!

[@tonybooth1759]

This video / channel should have millions of views 👏👏👏

[@Craichy]

I don’t remember how I found you, but im very glad I did. You are very entertaining and creative. Thanks so much

[@paydn202]

when you used your green screen to get on the metal and explain whats happening i was sold lmao subscribe!

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Green screen? I shrunk myself…

[@JonWhitton]

Fantastic

[@cliffx7]

You’re gonna hit 1 million subscribers by the end of next year if not sooner

[@VigiHunter]

Green screening you to the electron microscope view gave me a good laugh :D Amazing!

[@AlmightyAddman]

A great video and effort to explain the equipment I build and test for my career :)

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Glad you liked it! FIBs are awesome tools...

[@vladthe_cat]

I love powers of 2, ive memorized the first 14 from simple experience

[@MitchGriff709]

Saw your comment on reddit and used your link then I liked and subbed

[@adws5696]

Amazing!

[@MichaelShaw_vk2hms]

Allow my subscription to contribute towards 2^13!

[@MichaelShaw_vk2hms]

Oh wait... this milestone has been reached. Here's to 2^14 subscribers then!

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Haha I was about to say - I think I’ll be filming an impromptu play button this weekend. Today was wild... thanks for coming along!

[@lunaponta594]

we need to normalize 2^12 subscribers specials, this is amazing

[@guser436]

100k subs soon bro I'm calling it, 300k by end of year

[@patrickmaartense7772]

cant wait for the 2^15

[@dtiydr]

"Methylcyclopentadienyl(trimethyl)Platinum" MSDS: "Fatal if swallowed or in contact with skin." Lovely.

[@faizs9676]

2 to the power 12 subscriber 👍👍👍👍 Ya I was missing that and I even didn't knew it... Thanks of Nerd Courtesy

[@joshinils]

nice series, hope to see more episodes

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

me too!

[@rock3tcatU233]

More nanofabrication stuff please!

[@Abraarashraf]

Hey nice videos man. Just found you channel good luck

[@Pants4096]

Holy cow that's *impossibly* precise. That's amazing. What's the ballpark cost for that whole setup? I'm curious, with a really good light microscope, can you see that the play button exists? A tiny dark spot, if the carbon is dark colored? Do you have to use a copper (or other conducting) surface for the deposition? I suppose you would for the electric field to accelerate the ions properly. I'm curious what the possibilities are for printing conductive traces to make nano-scale circuits. Here's to 8192 subscribers!

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

I actually have the (unstable, maybe dead?) power supply from this microscope sitting in my garage right now - not sure what I'm going to be able to do with it, but they were getting a replacement! I think the entire setup is just under $1M. The electron microscope is a few hundred k, the ion gun add-on is a couple hundred k, the micro-manipulator (that I didn't get to use in this video) is ALSO a few hundred K, and then there are some (relatively) cheaper odds and ends, like two GIS needles and whatnot. for internal users it's $120/hr. I have access to a REALLY nice optical microscope in a different lab, and you can't really read the "Alpha Phoenix" unless you already know what it says. I chose an easier font for "subscribers". It flashes onscreen at 1:49 for just a second. metal traces for electronic devices are almost never deposited via fib (unless it's a really experimental device, normally something with nanowires or graphene flakes where you need to find a nanowire somewhere and print contacts on it). It's more common to make real devices with photolithography and to evaporate the metal on top of a mask in a dedicated chamber. Then you peel up the mask, and you're left with metal exactly where you wanted it.

[@Pants4096]

@@AlphaPhoenixChannel Oh! Thanks for that reference to 1:49. I had been focusing just on the electron image. Wait, if the line width of the o in Phoenix is 90nm, how are we seeing it so clearly (or at all?) with light at a wavelength on the order of 500nm!?

[@loganflowers400]

i am genuinely excited to subscribe to you

[@MeatEatingSissy]

I'm glad I found your channel. You have a good attitude

[@Wardztv]

Dude I’m geeking out rn

[@lexihaley2887]

You're so engaging and skilled

[@jucom756]

Let's give this amazing channel a 2²⁰ video by 2022.

[@bierfassner2253]

That’s pretty awesome not gonna lie

[@Caffein780]

UCSB! Wow...I grew up in Ventura and Oxnard and use to party there at UCSB.

[@Caffein780]

Oh and this microscope is awesome as well!