by Playfuls Staff |
1st March 2007
Japanese scientists say they've discovered it is possible to
use atomic force microscopy to identify the chemical makeup of individual
surface atoms.[more]
Atomic force microscopy works by measuring the short-range
forces that occur between a tiny tip and the atoms on the surface of a sample,
allowing the structure of that surface to be imaged with atomic resolution.
But the precise forces between the tip and the atoms also
depend subtly on the identity of the atoms involved. Oscar Custance and
colleagues at Osaka University
refined the imaging technique to the point where it's possible to not only to
detect individual atoms but also recognize their chemical identity, even at
room temperature.
Custance said the system can successfully distinguish
between atoms of silicon, tin and lead, although those elements have similar
chemical properties and identical preferences for particular surface positions.
The scientists hope the method they devised will boost
research in areas such as materials science and semiconductor technology, in
which important functional properties are controlled by the chemical nature and
short-range ordering of individual atoms.
The research appears in the journal Nature.
© 2007 UPI
