Advanced microscopy techniques can directly image chemical bonds
Advanced microscopy techniques, notably noncontact atomic force microscopy with functionalized tips, can directly image chemical bonds and resolve submolecular structures.
The retrieved papers consistently demonstrate that advanced techniques like noncontact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) and high-resolution AFM (HR-AFM) using CO-functionalized tips are capable of directly visualizing chemical bonds, bond lengths, and bond orders. Multiple studies support this empirical fact with no papers refuting it.
Qigang Zhong, Xuechao Li, Haiming Zhang, L. Chi. Noncontact atomic force microscopy: Bond imaging and beyond. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfrep.2020.100509
Noncontact atomic force microscopy using CO-functionalized tips accomplishes the direct imaging of chemical bonds and bond lengths, angles, and orders.
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Daniel Martin-Jimenez, Sebastian Ahles, Doreen Mollenhauer, Hermann A. Wegner, A. Schirmeisen, D. Ebeling. Bond-Level Imaging of the 3D Conformation of Adsorbed Organic Molecules Using Atomic Force Microscopy with Simultaneous Tunneling Feedback.. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.196101
Atomic force microscopy enables the visualization of the chemical structure and 3D conformation of adsorbed organic molecules at the bond level.
Daniel Martin-Jimenez, A. Ihle, Sebastian Ahles, Hermann A. Wegner, A. Schirmeisen, D. Ebeling. Bond-level imaging of organic molecules using Q-controlled amplitude modulation atomic force microscopy. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0018246
Q-controlled amplitude modulation atomic force microscopy allows high-resolution bond imaging of organic molecules on surfaces.
Fan D, Zhang Y, Tang Z, Chelikowsky JR, Yao N. Decoding atomic landscapes: Integrating electronic structure theory and high-resolution atomic force microscopy.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0300899
High-resolution atomic force microscopy (HR-AFM) enables the direct visualization of chemical bonds, intermolecular interactions, and bond orders.
Telychko M, Huda MN, Huang J, Lu W, Zarkadoula E, Park J, Wang X, Chen Z, Bernholc J, Rodin A, Lu J, Li AP. Controllable Formation of Threefold-Coordinated Oxygen in Graphene by Low-Energy Ion Implantation.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.6c00728
Bond-resolved noncontact atomic force microscopy techniques are successfully combined with other methods to resolve structural defects and bonding at the nanoscale.
Das A, Hung TC, Rank A, Giselbrecht F, Schön J, Das M, Doltsinis N, Amirjalayer S, Repp J, Glorius F. A Free N-Heterocyclic Carbene and Its Metal Complex.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202524266
Real-space techniques such as AFM resolve molecular structures with sub-molecular resolution to directly investigate chemical bonds and reactivity.
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