At the end of the week we took our gold samples out of the x-ray beam and looked at them with an atomic force microscope.

The sample above is actually a bit junky looking, but has some interesting features. Anyhow, I thought it made a fun enough picture to post. Though the sample appears both flat and clean to the eye (even under a high powered optical microscope), the AFM gives a great deal of detail and features. The terraces are clearly visible in this picture showing that the sample is indeed not extremely flat. There are also small bumps and nodules over the surface and some curious looking little sticks.