Oct. 17, 2011

Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy: Imaging the Inside of Complex Molecules

Scanning tunnelling microscopes are among the most important and most widely used tools for visualizing structures at the atomic level. In the past, however, it was virtually impossible to use them to penetrate inside complex molecules. Jülich researchers have now cleared another hurdle in order to overcome this limitation. Using individual atoms between the tip of the microscope and the sample as a sort of contrast medium, they image the inner structure of the molecule as well as the intermolecular forces. moreMar. 29, 2011

Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy: First Images of Oxygen Defects at a Manganite Surface

Using ultra-high vacuum scanning tunnelling microscopy researchers at the London Centre for Nanotechnology, in collaboration with the University of Geneva, Japan Science and Technology Agency and the University of Tokyo, have shown the first atomic resolution images of oxygen defects at a manganite surface. This work has been published in Nature Communications. moreJul. 14, 2010

How Soccer Ball Molecules Push Their Way Under Surfaces

Fullerene and graphene, two forms of carbon only recently discovered, have been stimulating the imaginations of researchers ever since their discovery (fullerene in 1970, graphene in 2004). With graphene especially, researchers see a chance for a new chapter in electronics, since this semiconductor material could one day replace the long-standing key element silicon. For this to happen, it would have to be possible to dope graphene - which is a single-atom layer of graphite - with foreign atoms. And in such a way that the important structural properties of graphene remain intact. moreFeb. 26, 2010

When Molecules Leave Tire Tracks

When "mother nature" does the engineering, molecules can self-organize into complex structures - a first step in the formation of membranes, cells and other molecular systems. Some classes of molecules are capable of arranging themselves in specific patterns on surfaces. This ability to self-organize is crucial for many technological applications, which are dependend on the assembly of ordered structures on surfaces. However, it has so far been virtually impossible to predict or control the result of such processes. Now a group of researchers led by Dr. moreMay. 31, 2005

Biological Applications of Scanning Probe Microscopy

Biological Applications of Scanning Probe Microscopy. Scanning probe microscopes (SPMs) have now become established as the foremost tools in the imaging of surfaces and surface–confined structures at up to angstrom resolution. Whilst spectroscopic methods such as Raman, ellipsometry and surface plasmon resonance continue to provide useful information on interfaces, they remain tools of restricted spatial resolution and are accordingly limited to measurements of bulk averages. more