Stick-up experiment lets scientists 'see' hydrogen atoms

Atomic configuration of the microscope tip interacting with the molecule on the surface. The very weak measured interaction energy is a result of the molecular hydrogens' interplay with the tip electrostatic potential (negative (red) and positive (blue)).

Source: © Shigeki Kawai, 2017

Upright structures offer hard-to-get direct AFM measurements

By demanding molecules ‘stick ‘em up’, researchers have grabbed one of science’s smallest and yet most difficult to attain prizes: ‘seeing’ a hydrogen atom directly. The Europe and Japan-based team pointed two hydrogens at the end of a molecule directly at their atomic force microscope (AFM), like two barrels of a shotgun.