University of Utah researchers showed it is possible for an atomic force microscope to make images of the wing-shaped paths of minuscule electrons as they orbit atoms.

The new study - led by Feng Liu, a professor of materials science and engineering - supports a controversial 2000 study by German physicist Franz Giessibl, who claimed he was able to use an atomic force microscope to detect subatomic structures in silicon atoms.

An atom is made of a core or nucleus surrounded by rapidly orbiting electrons. Depending on an atom's size, the electrons' orbital paths - called atomic orbitals - have different geometries, often shaped like figure-eights so they point out in different directions like atomic 'wings.'

Liu says his extensive computations at the University of Utah's Center for High Performance Computing "demonstrated the feasibility of seeing not only the atom but also the atomic orbitals when imaging the [silicon] surface with atomic force microscopy."

The researchers conclude it is feasible to 'see' the orbitals by sensing the forces created by the electrons as they whip around an atom. >from *Observing the 'Wings' of Atoms Study Indicates It Is Possible to See Electrons' Orbital Paths Around Atoms*. June 2, 2003

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> microscopy with subatomic resolution. "scientists of the university of augsburg have built an advanced scanning force microscope, the first microscope to provide images of individual atoms with subatomic resolution." july 20, 2000
> the 1986 nobel prize in physics. "Ernst Ruska for his fundamental work in electron optics, and for the design of the first electron microscope, jointly to Dr Gerd Binnig and Dr Heinrich Rohrer for their design of the scanning tunnelling microscope." october 15, 1986
> timeline of microscope technology

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> atomic force microscope images