Colin Ophus

An electron microscope scans a sample and records how electrons scatter off atoms at each point. The result is a giant stack of images — one for every point. These images encode information about how atoms are arranged: in neat rows or with a tilt, the orientation of the crystal lattice, and whether there are internal strains.

In a jeweler's workshop, gold is never mixed with ruthenium: one is soft and shiny, the other refractory and brittle. But at the nanometer scale, these metals merge into a single alloy that, when heated, begins to separate like oil and water in a cooling broth.