Credit: Image courtesy of Keji Lai, University of Texas at Austin
(Left) Mixing the power of scanning probe microscopy with microwaves (similar to those used to heat your food) has resulted in a new way to image materials. The schematic on the left shows how microwaves, focused by a scanning probe tip, can be used to reveal the internal structures of a working device made of atomically thin molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). (Right) The resulting image maps the conductivity of the device and shows the difference in the structures when the MoS2 device is barely turned on (upper right, showing that the edges of the atomic sheet are still conductive) and when the device is on (lower right, showing thread-like imperfections).