Do you know... atoms can be visualised?

Categories: Do You Know?

Do you know that atoms, the building blocks of all things, can be visualised? This was first achieved in 1981 in the IBM's Zurich Research Laboratory, by Gerd Binning and Heinrich Rohrer. They were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1986 for their work. The machine they used is called the scanning tunnelling microscope. The scanning tunnelling microscope does not "see" the atoms, but "feels" them. Through the use of appropriate computer programs an "optical" image of the surface from the scan data can then be obtained. This provides a three-dimensional profile of the surface which is very useful for characterizing surface roughness, observing surface defects, and determining the size and conformation of molecules and aggregates on the surface.

In practice, it allows engineers to obtain an insight into the miniaturisation of electronic components, biologists to investigate the basic components of life under almost natural conditions, and it also allows chemists to gain a better understanding of batteries, by directly observing chemical surface reactions in an electrolytic solution at a molecular level. This was but a first step towards the development of the nanotechnology.


Links:
STM Gallery
Understanding the scanning tunneling microscopy
Atomic Fly-by