First Molecule Chemical Structure Imaged by IBM Scientists

Posted by Sierra Monica B. in Science on 08 31st, 2009 | no responses

It’s the first time in history when scientists managed to image the chemical structure of a molecule, and responsible for this is no other than IBM, the US-based multinational computer technology and IT consulting corporation.
In order to be able to image a molecule, scientists used an advanced and complex technique called non-contact atomic force microscopy. This step will open new possibilities in the nanotechnology field, which requires understanding smallest objects before controlling them.

Leo Gross, Nikolaj Moll, Fabian Mohn and Gerhard Meyer from IBM teamed up with Peter Liljeroth at the Utrecht University and used an atomic force microscope in an ultra-high vacuum at extremely low temperatures of -268 degrees Celsius to image the pentacene molecule. The powerful microscope measured the forces between the sharp metal tip and the pantacene molecule.
The organic molecule called pantacene has 22 carbon atoms and 14 hydrogen atoms, being 1.4 nm in length, with 0.14 nm the space between neighboring carbon atoms. This size translates to one million times smaller then the diameter of a grain of sand.
In the image you can distinguish the five carbon rings with hexagonal shape and the carbon atoms in the molecule.

“Though not an exact comparison, 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 Gerhard Meyer, researcher at IBM. “Scanning probe techniques offer amazing potential for prototyping complex functional structures and for tailoring and studying their electronic and chemical properties on the atomic scale.”