Towards Elemental Identification in Single Molecules using Atomic Force Microscopy

Molecular structure determination is vital for biochemistry, life science, and drug industry.

A complete determination of the molecular structure requires both the structural skeleton and atoms therein to be identified.

Non-contact Atomic Force Microscopy provided a method to image the real-space structural skeleton of planar organic molecule, however, the chemical identities of each atom that comprise the molecule are yet to be determined.

In this proposal, I systematically analyze the physical principle for elemental identification in single molecules and propose a practical method to identify each atom using point spectrum with non-contact atomic force microscope.