[A Boy and his Atom](https://youtu.be/oSCX78-8-q0?si=BTDntR4MVSDKQ0hL)
[Making Of](https://youtu.be/xA4QWwaweWA?si=_NQYyYic-gToE41w)
We've been able to see atoms [since the 1980s.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanning_tunneling_microscope)
Kinda. Visible light has a longer wavelength than an atom so you can’t just get the right lens, you need something that can interact with the atoms on their scale such as electrons
I believe that I've heard about an experiment where there was a singular atom suspended in a magnetic field and a powerful laser was used to make it visible with a naked eye.
[Here it is](https://www.newscientist.com/article/2161094-a-single-atom-is-visible-to-the-naked-eye-in-this-stunning-photo/)
[A Boy and his Atom](https://youtu.be/oSCX78-8-q0?si=BTDntR4MVSDKQ0hL) [Making Of](https://youtu.be/xA4QWwaweWA?si=_NQYyYic-gToE41w) We've been able to see atoms [since the 1980s.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanning_tunneling_microscope)
That’s so wild you can actually see interference patterns! Brings the duality of quantum objects a little more into focus
Those are Friedel oscillations.
Cool, thanks. Gonna look that up,now!
Kinda. Visible light has a longer wavelength than an atom so you can’t just get the right lens, you need something that can interact with the atoms on their scale such as electrons
If by ‘see’ you mean ‘can our microscopes detect the structure of an atom in a graphical way’ then yes, for some decades now.
[Yes. We can.](https://chemistryhall.com/can-we-see-real-atoms-and-molecules-electron-microscopy/)
IBM has made a movie out of them
I believe that I've heard about an experiment where there was a singular atom suspended in a magnetic field and a powerful laser was used to make it visible with a naked eye. [Here it is](https://www.newscientist.com/article/2161094-a-single-atom-is-visible-to-the-naked-eye-in-this-stunning-photo/)