News Physics

Seeing the smallest atom

Graphene helps a team use a transmission electron microscope to image individual hydrogen atoms

By Davide Castelvecchi

- More than 2 years ago

No room is left at the bottom. A team of physicists has shown how a common type of electron microscope can spot single hydrogen atoms — the smallest atoms of them all.

A team has detected hydrogen atoms using a common type of electron microscope. Here, isolated hydrogen atoms show up as purple peaks in data from a transmission electron microscope. The elevation and color represent what would be shades of gray on a two-dimensional image.
SMALLEST OF THE SMALL A team has detected hydrogen atoms using a common type of electron microscope.