Atomic Bond Types Discernible in Single-Molecule Images

[TECH NEWS]

A pioneering team from IBM in Zurich has published single-molecule images so detailed that the type of atomic bonds between their atoms can be discerned. Leo Gross was lead author of the study, which appeared in Science. The same team took the first-ever single-molecule image in 2009 and more recently published images of a molecule shaped like the Olympic rings. The new work opens up the prospect of studying imperfections in the “wonder material” graphene or plotting where electrons go during chemical reactions. The team, which included French and Spanish collaborators, used a variant of a technique called atomic force microscopy, or AFM. AFM uses a tiny metal tip passed over a surface, whose even tinier deflections are measured as the tip is scanned to and fro over a sample. To minimize vibrations, including those induced by temperature, the apparatus is kept at ­268C, a few degrees above absolute zero. The team will use the method to examine graphene, one-atom-thick sheets of pure carbon that hold much promise in electronics.

September 13, Jason Palmer / BBC News