Nanometre-scale gold particles are intensively investigated
for application as catalysts, sensors, drug delivery devices, biological
contrast agents and components in photonics and molecular electronics. Gaining
knowledge of their atomic-scale structures, fundamental for understanding
physical and chemical properties, has been challenging. Now, researchers at
Stanford University, USA, have demonstrated that high-resolution electron
microscopy can be used to reveal a three-dimensional structure in which all
gold atoms are observed. The results are in close agreement with a structure
predicted at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, on the basis of theoretical
modelling and infrared spectroscopy.