SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY

Charge on Single Atoms Measured

from BBC News Online

The amount of electric charge on single atoms has been measured by researchers reporting in Science. While individual atoms' charges have been measured before, the prior method required that the atoms be on the surface of a conducting material.

The new approach used a tiny tuning fork-like device that was deflected minuscule amounts by the attraction or repulsion of the atoms. The approach will aid in the design of devices such as solar cells.

... The new work hinges on the use of a research tool called an atomic force microscope, or AFM, which as its name implies can measure forces at the atomic level.