<figure class="fr-image-container fr-full"><img srcset="https://cdn.discovermagazine.com/assets/image/22663/MolecularBonds_600-s.webp 480w, https://cdn.discovermagazine.com/assets/image/22663/MolecularBonds_600-m.webp 660w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 480px, 660px" src="https://cdn.discovermagazine.com/assets/image/22663/MolecularBonds_600-s.jpg" title="MolecularBonds_600.jpg" loading="lazy" data-id="22663"><figcaption class="fr-figcaption"><p class="fr-caption"></p></figcaption></figure><p> We've come a long way from the first glass-and-light optical microscopes. These days, scientists can focus on individual molecules using advanced methods like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_force_microscopy" title="">atomic force microscopy</a></p><div class="vert-display-toggle collapsible relative flex flex-col items-center "><div class="vert-unit mt-4 mb-3 top-20"><div ad-type="mobile-desktop" class="ad-wrapper vert min-h-boombox flex items-start justify-center" data-ad-mapping="inline" data-ad-slot="Discover/inline-ad" id="div-inline-ad-0"></div></div><span aria-label="Advertisement" class="text-ad mt-1 text-[11px] uppercase">Advertisement</span></div><p> (AFM), where a miniscule probe feels out the details of a surface. And in this AFM image of a nanographene molecule, the resolution is so high that for the first time, we can see the individual bonds between atoms, shown here as green lines. In <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/337/6100/1326" title="">a new paper in the journal <em>Science</em></a></p><p>, IBM researchers used the same imaging technique to <a href="http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/38856.wss" title="">measure the length and relative strength</a></p><div data-embedid="cade7ffa-0563-48de-839f-f84e596c0b94" id="insticator-embed-temp"></div><p> of individual bonds in the spherical carbon molecules called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckminsterfullerene" title="">buckyballs</a></p><p>. Their method can not only improve our intimate understanding of these and other molecules---it also lets us get up close and personal with the building blocks of all matter. </p><p><em>Image courtesy of </em><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ibm_research_zurich/7892733746/in/set-72157631317472684" title="">IBM Research – Zurich / Flickr</a></p>

Discover how atomic force microscopy allows scientists to visualize individual molecules with unprecedented detail and accuracy.

Technology

Look at This: We Can Zoom In On Individual Molecular Bonds

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News

Sophie Bushwick

Science

We've come a long way from the first glass-and-light optical microscopes. These days, scientists can focus on individual molecules using advanced methods like atomic force microscopy (AFM), where a miniscule probe feels out the details of a surface. And in this AFM image of a nanographene molecule, the resolution is so high that for the first time, we can see the individual bonds between atoms, shown here as green lines. In a new paper in the journal Science , IBM researchers used the same imaging technique to measure the length and relative strength of individual bonds in the spherical carbon molecules called buckyballs . Their method can not only improve our intimate understanding of these and other molecules---it also lets us get up close and personal with the building blocks of all matter. Image courtesy of IBM Research – Zurich / Flickr

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