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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Sighting a molecule’s sigh

A microscope observes a single molecule as it ‘relaxes’ after gaining an electron.
Atomic force microscopy images of copper(II)phthalocyanine molecules in neutral and negatively charged stated

A powerful microscope shows a molecule before and after it gains an electron (upper image in left and right panels, respectively). An unaltered molecule (lower image, both panels) is shown for comparison. Credit: P. Scheuerer et al./Phys. Rev. Lett.

Microscopes can detect the structural change in a molecule when it ‘relaxes’ after gaining an electron.

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Nature 572, 418-419 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02456-0

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