Imaging charge distribution within a single molecule

BBC : A group of researchers at IBM Research Zurich used Kelvin probe force microscopy, a variant of atomic force microscopy, to capture the intricate dance of electrons in a complex molecule. They scanned a tiny bar with a charged tip across the surface of a much larger, X-shaped molecule, naphthalocyanine. When the charged tip reacted to charges within the naphthalocyanine, the researchers were able to determine the locations of the electrons and even observe when two hydrogen atoms at the center swapped places and the electrons reshuffled themselves. The technique could prove important for the building of atomic- and molecular-scale devices. Indeed, naphthalocyanine is among the molecules being considered as a building block for molecular computing. Fabian Mohn and colleagues published their results in Nature Nanotechnology.