this is cool - i had a broken laser pointer so i removed the lens and… instant macro iPhone! i didn’t make the microscope stand though. thanks for the tip!
Neat! Looks like the focusing lens out of an old, dead CDROM drive I’ve got sitting around will work for this too! Now I just need some plexi glass and maybe a couple of bolts.
I was ready to get all indignant and decry the $10 price tag as not including the laser pointer that you have to destroy to get at the lens, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that $10 gets you all the materials (besides the smartphone).
Very cool. Any idea when the followup $20 scanning-electron microscope attachment is forthcoming?
You could probably get a crude STM going for $20 (if you have the right parts in your junk bin). I recall a colleague of a friend of mine (physics prof) building a crude one in the early 90’s with discarded stuff from a university – he spent a lot more money and time over the following years refining his build with vacuum and cryogenics and a much more precise positioning system.
edit:
to bring it back to TFA, you could interface it with your phone through the earphone jack
Oh man, I turfed all my old CD-ROM drives and burners years ago. Not sure I want to sacrifice a DVD drive…
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