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IBM Snaps Image Of Electric Charge In A Molecule
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This research breakthrough can help in miniaturising circuitry to the nanometer scale.
It can also help in creating ever-smaller transistors, in solar power too.
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Wednesday, February 29, 2012:
IBM researchers have for the first time succeeded in taking a snapshot of electric charge within a molecule. They have been able to capture how electric charge is distributed inside a single molecule. This research breakthrough can help in miniaturising circuitry to the nanometer scale. It can also help in creating ever-smaller transistors, in solar power too.
The scientists from IBM Research in Zurich, Switzerland describe the technique of how the charge distribution within functional molecular structures holds great promise for future applications such as solar photoconversion, energy storage, or molecular scale computing devices. The researchers have used a special kind of atomic force microscopy called Kelvin probe force microscopy at low temperatures and in ultrahigh vacuum to image the charge distribution within a single molecule.
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IBM is studying molecular structures on artificial surfaces so functional molecules in the future can be used as switches or transistors, said Fabian Mohn, an IBM researcher. IBM used advanced microscopy tools and techniques to image how charge is redistributed and arranged when chemical bonds are formed between atoms and molecules on surfaces. The scientists have a paper published in Nature Nanotechnology about the same.
Fabian Mohn, the co-author of the paper said this method of imaging the electric charge distribution can be helpful in making tiny transistors (of the size of a molecule) or creating solar cells from organic materials which is inexpensive.
Mohn said, “Applications like transistor switch or memory element or organic photovoltaic involve movement and rearrangement of charges in the molecules. So it is good to investigate about the charge distribution in detail.”
Diksha P Gupta, EFYTIMES News Network
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