A group of scientists at Sandia National Laboratories have developed a transmission about the size of a grain of sand that could prove useful in optical telescopes and optical switching in telephone lines.
The minuscule polysilicon transmission will be used to power microengines -- also about the size of a grain of sand. The transmission increases the power of the microengines by a factor of 3 million. Potential applications for the microengines also include microsurgery and robust micromachines aboard satellites.