Sunday, August 30, 2009

Think Small




This lattice-shaped image is the first ever close-up view of a single molecule. Scientists from IBM used an atomic force microscope (AFM) to reveal the chemical bonds within a molecule. 'This is the first time that all the atoms in a molecule have been imaged,' lead researcher Leo Gross said.

The researchers focused on a single molecule of pentacene, which is commonly used in solar cells. The rectangular-shaped organic molecule is made up of 22 carbon atoms and 14 hydrogen atoms. In the image above the hexagonal shapes of the five carbon rings are clear and even the positions of the hydrogen atoms around the carbon rings can be seen. To give some perspective, the space between the carbon rings is only 0.14 nanometers across, which is roughly one million times smaller than the diameter of a grain of sand.

'If you think about how a doctor uses an X-ray to image bones and organs inside the human body, we are using the atomic force microscope to image the atomic structures that are the backbones of individual molecules,' said IBM researcher Gerhard Meyer.

The team from IBM Research Zurich said the results could have a huge impact of the field of nanotechnology, which seeks to understand and control some of the smallest objects known to mankind.

7 comments:

Roy said...

Missed your posts. Good to have you back.

Anonymous said...

All kinds of pictures are out there; this IS the tiniest!
Thanks for sharing the discovery. Off to Tokyo...Want constant updates!
Suzanne D.

kat said...

Where have you been? We've missed you!

Dan said...

WOW. Have missed your posts too.

liv said...

thank you for putting this picture up - not only is the science behind it mindblowing but the picture itself is also very very beautiful.
/liv

Anonymous said...

this is crazy.
thanks!

Anonymous said...

"striking and vibrant nonetheless"

those models are impressive!