From London to Morse via Binnig, Quate, and Gerber
Abstract
In their landmark paper introducing the atomic force microscope [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{56}, 930 (1986)], Binnig, Quate, and Gerber presciently anticipated that the technique would ultimately be capable of probing interactions running the gamut from weak van der Waals interactions to strong covalent bonding. They also highlighted that the tip-sample forces central to AFM are present, and often highly influential, in scanning tunnelling microscopy; indeed, this realisation directly inspired the invention of the force microscope. In this perspective for the \textit{Forty Years of AFM} special issue, we review selected aspects of two decades of work from our group at the University of Nottingham that span the force range highlighted by BQG and are united by a common, central theme: the probe as active participant rather than passive observer. Our selection of results also covers length- and correlation-scales from the microscopic right down to the single chemical bond limit, tracking a spectrum of interactions from van der Waals/Hamaker forces, through hydrogen bonding, to covalent bonds and, finally, atom-by-atom assembly of metal clusters via vertical tip-sample transfer. Echoing BQG's own observations on the prevalence of probe-sample forces in STM, we also discuss recent evidence that tip-induced heterogeneity underpins first-passage dynamics in molecular diffusion and highlight the challenges in acquiring non-invasive measurements of diffusion barriers for adsorbed molecules that are readily perturbed by the probe. We close with a perspective on machine learning's growing role in automating tip-driven atomic and molecular manipulation.
Related
BibTeX
@misc{perez2026from,
title = {{From London to Morse via Binnig, Quate, and Gerber}},
author = {Sofia Alonso Perez and Matthew O. Blunt and Frederick Carlisle and Neil R. Champness and Janette L. Dunn and Matthew Edmondson and Rowan Evers and Connor Fields and Subhashis Gangopadhyay and James Hayton and Samuel P. Jarvis and Filipe Junqueira and Lev Kantorovich and Brian Kiraly and Natalio Krasnogor and Ioannis Lekkas and Morten Møller and Philip Moriarty and Chris Pakes and Emmanuelle Pauliac-Vaujour and Oliver Phillips and Adrian Radocea and Philipp Rahe and Mohammad Abdur Rashid and Hongqian Sang and Alex Saywell and Nikhil Seeja Sivakumar and Peter Sharp and Andrew Stannard and Julian Stirling and Adam Sweetman and Simon Taylor and Richard A. J. Woolley},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.08425},
eprint = {2609.08425},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.08425},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - From London to Morse via Binnig, Quate, and Gerber
AU - Sofia Alonso Perez
AU - Matthew O. Blunt
AU - Frederick Carlisle
AU - Neil R. Champness
AU - Janette L. Dunn
AU - Matthew Edmondson
AU - Rowan Evers
AU - Connor Fields
AU - Subhashis Gangopadhyay
AU - James Hayton
AU - Samuel P. Jarvis
AU - Filipe Junqueira
AU - Lev Kantorovich
AU - Brian Kiraly
AU - Natalio Krasnogor
AU - Ioannis Lekkas
AU - Morten Møller
AU - Philip Moriarty
AU - Chris Pakes
AU - Emmanuelle Pauliac-Vaujour
AU - Oliver Phillips
AU - Adrian Radocea
AU - Philipp Rahe
AU - Mohammad Abdur Rashid
AU - Hongqian Sang
AU - Alex Saywell
AU - Nikhil Seeja Sivakumar
AU - Peter Sharp
AU - Andrew Stannard
AU - Julian Stirling
AU - Adam Sweetman
AU - Simon Taylor
AU - Richard A. J. Woolley
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/08
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.08425
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.08425
AB - In their landmark paper introducing the atomic force microscope [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{56}, 930 (1986)], Binnig, Quate, and Gerber presciently anticipated that the technique would ultimately be capable of probing interactions running the gamut from weak van der Waals interactions to strong covalent bonding. They also highlighted that the tip-sample forces central to AFM are present, and often highly influential, in scanning tunnelling microscopy; indeed, this realisation directly inspired the invention of the force microscope. In this perspective for the \textit{Forty Years of AFM} special issue, we review selected aspects of two decades of work from our group at the University of Nottingham that span the force range highlighted by BQG and are united by a common, central theme: the probe as active participant rather than passive observer. Our selection of results also covers length- and correlation-scales from the microscopic right down to the single chemical bond limit, tracking a spectrum of interactions from van der Waals/Hamaker forces, through hydrogen bonding, to covalent bonds and, finally, atom-by-atom assembly of metal clusters via vertical tip-sample transfer. Echoing BQG's own observations on the prevalence of probe-sample forces in STM, we also discuss recent evidence that tip-induced heterogeneity underpins first-passage dynamics in molecular diffusion and highlight the challenges in acquiring non-invasive measurements of diffusion barriers for adsorbed molecules that are readily perturbed by the probe. We close with a perspective on machine learning's growing role in automating tip-driven atomic and molecular manipulation.
ER -