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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."

16 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. Cool, but... by sircastor · · Score: 5, Funny

    I guess I expected it to look a little less like a High-school textbook drawing of the bonds. The only thing that would make it moreso is if little Cs were set next to each atom.

    1. Re:Cool, but... by electricprof · · Score: 5, Funny

      The little C's are there, but they are in 0.000000001 font. I think it's Arial.

  2. Next story: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Next story: IBM is sued by the IOC.

  3. 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.

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  4. Impressive by ballpoint · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is a very impressive image that's in the same league as the famous Hubble deep field image. Both images confirm what was already known, but in a more direct and visual way.

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    Flourescent (adj): smelling like ground wheat.
  5. 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

  6. 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.

  7. Re:5 linked rings by Shrike82 · · Score: 5, Funny

    You should have gone with:

    5 linked rings
    4 carbon bonds
    3 electrons
    2 tiny dots
    and a grainy image on my PC...

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    You can advertise in this sig from as little as £99.99 a month!
  8. Re:What Material Is the Pantacene Sitting On? by mastahYee · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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

    It doesn't actually touch the molecules, because weak force cancels out the attraction. That's kind of a key point here because touching it was too destructive to get these images in the first place.

  9. Re:What Material Is the Pantacene Sitting On? by UnHolier+than+ever · · Score: 5, Interesting

    An AFM image will often look like it has a shadow. In that case, the tip was probably scanning from the right, and it "bounced" after being raised by the pentacene. The shadow size is related to the tip speed as much as the molecule height.

  10. 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. "

  11. 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.

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    OSX pwns.
  12. Re:What Material Is the Pantacene Sitting On? by MadAnalyst · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A lot of microscopy like this will be done using very carefully prepared atomically smooth surfaces. A good example would be Cu(111). I haven't' dug in, but they might also work with something akin to the "depth of field" in optical work to largely exclude the effect of the background.

  13. 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.

  14. I'm inpressed by the chemists who deduced ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    the structures of the molecule with such accuracy - without actually seeing it!

    Now, that's genius!

  15. Simply Awesome by gpronger · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I likely would have had this post up about 20 earlier, but I've just managed to pick myself off the floor after taking a look at the photo. As a chemist, I personally find the verification of theory a significant milestone in our understanding. It's one thing to have a theory, and then through somewhat serendipitous means, verify the theory, but to have an actual photo, brings it to a new level.

    Greg

    Yes, I do have a life outside the lab, but maybe not as much of one as I once thought.