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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Imaging tweak reveals chemical bonds inside bulky molecules

An unconventional mode of operation allows atomic-force microscope to peer inside 3D shapes.
False-colour AFM scan of single and self-assembled 2-iodotriphenylene molecules

Detailed images (false colour) of lumpy molecules can be captured thanks to a variation on a scanning technique. Credit: D. Martin-Jimenez et al./Phys. Rev. Lett.

A simple trick allows a highly sensitive microscope to capture the details of bulky molecules’ chemical structures.

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Nature 569, 459 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01537-4

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