Naked molecule exposed!!!

Did that attract your attention? Scientists at IBM using a very powerful microscope took a picture of a molecule. That might not seem like much but we are talking about a picture where you can 'see' things that are less than a nanometer. The molecule is pentacene which is important for organic transistors. Those are switches made of things that aren't like the current ones which are made from silicon. Pentacene is a hydrocarbon, so a bunch of carbon atoms arranged in rings. The microscope that they used is an atomic force microscope which doesn't have a lens but has a very sharp tip. On the tip these scientists put a molecule of carbon monoxide. The carbon monoxide as it was dragged across the pentacene interacted with it and the result is a picture of pentacene. Is this useful? For sure. Useful for making tiny transistors out of single molecules. (for more info go to www.ibm.com)

1 comment:

Pittsburgh Patent Lawyer said...

This is very exciting technology. IBM is traditionally, in top of the patent filings. The patent system allows for them to make these advances and instead of keeping them secret disclose them to the public.