Successfully modulated the legendary Triangulene triangle molecule

For the first time, researchers have successfully prepared a triangular molecule called Triangulene. This structure is very unusual and unsustainable. Physicists have been pursuing this structure for nearly 70 years.

Triangulene is a similar structure to graphene "metamaterial" , as thin as 1 atom. But instead of a plate like that of carbon atoms, Triangulene is made up of 6 hexagonal carbon molecules lined along its edges to form a triangle. This unusual arrangement leaves two unpaired electrons so it is very unstable.

Triangulene molecule was created by a group of researchers at IBM. They used a "needle-like" microscope to arrange individual atoms into desired formats.

"We created Triangulene for the first time. Many chemists have tried and failed," said lead researcher Leo Gross at the IBM laboratory in Switzerland.

Instead of a sheet-like form of carbon atoms, triangulene is made up of six hexagonal carbon molecules joined along its edges to form a triangle.

This is not the first time researchers have created unstable and irregular molecules. But Triangulene is a much more special case, not only because of its unique structure, but also because it is predicted to have useful and groundbreaking properties in the field of electronics and quantum computers.

Triangulene was first predicted and sketched in 1950 by Czech scientist Erich Clar. He calculated that theoretically, the triangular structure could be made with six benzene molecules in a circle, and the excess of two unpaired electrons would be redundant. Clar tried modulation and failed.

Modulation is difficult, because two unpaired electrons cannot exist in a stable way. It will immediately react to anything around.

Researchers have tried modulation for nearly 70 years but have not once succeeded.

"It has just been oxidized immediately," said one of the researchers, Niko Pavliček.

Triangulene is predicted to have useful and breakthrough properties in electronic devices and quantum computers.

IBM's team overcame this by using another technique. Instead of building immediately a molecular structure, they first create a larger precursor structure and then trim it down.

They added a few hydrogen atoms to make the molecules stable. They then split the excess hydrogen atoms with an electron beam, leaving triangulene molecules unstable. They can even capture structures using super powerful scanning microscopes.

"To my knowledge, this is the first existence of Triangulene" - Takeji Takui, Osaka City University of Japan, who also works with a Triangulene synthesis project, but does not participate in studies. IBM said.

This new material has shown some unique and unexpected properties, which are very useful for quantum computers and even create spin electronics (spintronics).

There are still many things to learn about Triangulene. And like any new material, it met many critics. Research groups will now have the opportunity to find answers independently.

And while more research into this new structure is needed, new chemical synthesis techniques developed by the team will be useful for implementing other elusive structures.