New way to view atoms
By visualising the pattern of the fields produced by electrical charges, scientists will gain further insight into the electrical properties of materials. Image: alengo/iStockphoto A new high-tech method for imaging the electric fields of atoms could lead to advances in areas as diverse as data storage, solar cells and batteries.Research published today in the prestigious journal Nature Physics detailed how physicists from Monash University and Japanese institutions including the University of Tokyo and the Japan Science and Technology Agency viewed the electric fields of atoms using a new advanced scanning transmission electron microscopy technique.Electric fields are produced by the electrically-charged particles within atoms known as protons and electrons. The electrical forces between the positively and negatively charged particles play an important structural role - they hold the atoms together.By visualising the pattern of the fields produced by these charges, scientists will gain further insight into the electrical properties of materials. For instance,...