NIST researchers have developed a new atomic-scale manipulation instrument that can delicately pull apart chains of atoms. The instrument, inspired by a scanning tunneling microscope, uses a sharp gold tip to bond with a flat gold surface and gradually pull apart, creating single-atom chains. The team achieved picometer-level control using an ultra-stable platform and fiber-optic interferometer system, allowing precise electrical conductivity measurements to identify when the junction has narrowed to the last two atoms.
This new instrument can be paired with an atomic-scale force sensor and Electrostatic Force Balance to enable direct measurements of force between gold atoms, offering scientific calibration standards. Future applications include studying electron movement in 1D systems and single-molecule spectroscopy. The calculated force needed to detach a single gold atom from a chain is under 2 nanonewtons or 0.000 000 007 ounces of force.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2010/03/nist-researchers-holding-steady-atomic-scale-tug-war
Keywords: atomic-scale, NIST, STM
