Science Daily April 22, 2022
Researchers at UC Irvine positioned two bound atoms of hydrogen in between the silver tip of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and a sample composed of a flat copper surface arrayed with small islands of copper nitride. With pulses of the laser lasting trillionths of a second, they were able to excite the hydrogen molecule and detect changes in its quantum states at cryogenic temperatures and in the ultrahigh vacuum environment of the instrument, rendering atomic-scale, time-lapsed images of the sample. The STM was equipped to detect minute electrical current flowing in this space and produced spectroscopic readings proving the presence of the hydrogen molecule and sample elements. According to the researchers the technique can be applied to analysis of two-dimensional materials which have the potential to play a role in advanced energy systems, electronics, and quantum computers, and it can be of great use in the science and engineering of catalysts…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
In the ultrahigh vacuum of a scanning tunneling microscope, a hydrogen molecule is held between the silver tip and sample… Credit: SCIENCE, 21 Apr 2022, Vol 376, Issue 6591, pp. 401-405Â