Advances in tip-based microscopy in materials science have allowed imaging at angstrom-scale resolution, although the technique does not provide clear characterization of the structural and chemical heterogeneities of surface species. In a new report now published on Science, Jiayu Xu and a research team in quantum information and quantum physics at the University of Science and Technology of China used a model system of pentacene derivatives on a silver surface. The researchers then combined a range of materials characterization techniques including scanning-tunneling microscopy, atomic force microscopy and tip-enhanced Raman scattering to provide electronic, structural and chemical information to characterize diverse, yet structurally similar chemical species relative to their interaction with the metal surface at single-bond resolution. The proposed multi-technique approach has wide applications across fundamental studies for heterogenous catalysis of surface chemistry.
source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-chemical-heterogeneities-surface-species-single-bond.html
