For 5,000 years the only way to shape metal has been by the "heat and beat" technique and even in modern nanotechnology, scientists said, metalworking involves carving metals with electron beams or etching them with acid.

Now Cornell University researchers report creating a method to self-assemble metals into complex configurations with structural details about 100 times smaller than a bacterial cell by guiding metal particles into the desired form using soft polymers.

"I think this is ingenious work that takes the fundamental concepts of polymer science and applies them to make metals in a totally novel way," said Andrew Lovinger of the National Science Foundation. "In so doing, it opens the door to all kinds of new possibilities."

Professor Uli Wiesner, who led the research, said: "It opens a completely novel playground because no one has been able to structure metals in bulk ways using polymers. In principle, if you can do it with one metal you can do it with others or even mixtures of metals."

The new technology is reported in the June 27 issue of the journal Science.