Untitled (stereo ripple tank) (2006)
Mixed media: LEDs, water, transparent tank, ladders, 3D glasses. Photo: Eric Heller
The main effect of this work was created by projecting powerful LED lighting through a transparent tank of water onto the floor. The tank was hung well above viewers’ heads. As ripples were created by a bobber in the tank, viewers wearing red and blue 3D glasses saw a representation of colliding water waves — not unlike quantum waves at the nanoscale — projected onto the floor. As Heller describes it, “It was awesome; if you stood in the right place and looked down with the glasses on, it looked as though the waves were about waist high and you were wading!”
Transport II (electron flow paths) (2001)
High-resolution digital print. Photo: Eric Heller
Transport II shows a theoretical simulation of the flow pattern of electrons traveling over a nanoscale landscape. The electrons are trapped in a sheet at the interface between two solids. Such sheets of electrons are of great importance in cutting-edge electronics. The total area seen here corresponds in size to that of a typical bacterium. The bumpy landscape that the electrons must negotiate is caused by the irregular arrangement of positively charged “donor” atoms in a layer just above the flat interface in which the electrons are traveling. The electrons are attracted to regions with more positive charges nearby; since these charges are randomly arranged, the electrons negotiate hills and valleys of repulsion and attraction. The cumulative effect of many such encounters results in the pattern seen here. This image comes from a numerical simulation that closely approximates what is seen experimentally with an extremely sensitive scanning probe microscope that can sample thousands of distinct places inside a tiny space.