Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

IBM Images a Single Molecule

Posted by kdawson on from the blow-it-up dept.

chrb writes "New Scientist is reporting that researchers at IBM Zurich have managed to image a single molecule in detail for the first time. In the images of a pentacene molecule, the bonds between the carbon atoms are visible as five linked rings."

6 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Molecules are made of atoms, right? by epiphani · · Score: 5, Informative

    Good job reading the article.

    FTA:

    Thanks to specialised microscopes, we have long been able to see the beauty of single atoms. But strange though it might seem, imaging larger molecules at the same level of detail has not been possible â" atoms are robust enough to withstand existing tools, but the structures of molecules are not. Now researchers at IBM have come up with a way to do it.

    emphasis mine.

    --
    .
  2. Re:What Material Is the Pantacene Sitting On? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    This image isn't from an electron microscope, it uses AFM (atomic force microscopy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_force_microscope), which actually touches the molecules with its tip. In this case though, they bonded a single carbon monoxoide molecule to the AFM cantilever so that it would only interact with the oxygen atoms on the pentacene molecule. I imagine it didn't image the substrate at all because of that

  3. link to journal abstract by jschen · · Score: 5, Informative

    For anyone who wants the original paper, published in Science today, it may be found here. The abstract is free.

  4. Re:What Material Is the Pantacene Sitting On? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    From the Science article http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5944/1110 (require subscription):

    " The asymmetry in the molecular imaging in (D) (showing a "shadow" only on the left side of the molecules) is probably caused by asymmetric adsorption geometry of the CO molecule at the tip apex. "

  5. Re:What Material Is the Pantacene Sitting On? by Sorny · · Score: 5, Informative

    You are correct. I get the chance to see AFM readouts at work (you see some really cool shit in a fab), and this is a bit higher resolution that I'm used to seeing, but the "shadow" is something you'll frequently see.

    I've never "seen" the substrate from AFM scans at work either.

    --
    OSX pwns.
  6. The photo is of the electric field. by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 5, Informative

    Atoms are mostly empty space. The photo is of the electric field caused by the electrons.

    This photo is better. The article says it is a 20-hour time exposure. The photo was available through a Reddit story yesterday.