Under a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), molecules usually appear as indistinct blobs. But research published in the 20 August Physical Review Letters shows how a recently developed type of STM can reveal the structure of a molecule in much greater detail. In this type of STM, a single hydrogen or deuterium molecule is attached to the probe tip, and the team showed that the pressure of this molecule against the probe leads to the dramatic improvement in imaging. The technique images the effect of a force on electrical conduction through the probe, which allows a more complete picture of the molecule's electrons than standard STM provides.
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