Editing Atom (section)

== Identification ==
[[File:Atomic resolution Au100.JPG|right|thumb|[[Scanning tunneling microscope]] [[surface reconstruction]] image showing the individual atoms making up this [[gold]] ([[Miller index|100]]) surface. The surface atoms deviate from the bulk [[crystal structure]] and arrange in columns several atoms wide with pits between them.]]
While atoms are too small to be seen, devices such as the [[scanning tunneling microscope]] (STM) enable their visualization at the surfaces of solids. The microscope uses the [[quantum tunneling]] phenomenon, which allows particles to pass through a barrier that would be insurmountable in the classical perspective. Electrons tunnel through the vacuum between two [[Biasing|biased]] electrodes, providing a tunneling current that is exponentially dependent on their separation. One electrode is a sharp tip ideally ending with a single atom. At each point of the scan of the surface the tip's height is adjusted so as to keep the tunneling current at a set value. How much the tip moves to and away from the surface is interpreted as the height profile. For low bias, the microscope images the averaged electron orbitals across closely packed energy levels—the local [[density of states|density of the electronic states]] near the [[Fermi level]].<ref name=jacox1997 /><ref name=nf_physics1986 /> Because of the distances involved, both electrodes need to be extremely stable; only then periodicities can be observed that correspond to individual atoms. The method alone is not chemically specific, and cannot identify the atomic species present at the surface.

Atoms can be easily identified by their mass. If an atom is [[ion]]ized by removing one of its electrons, its trajectory when it passes through a [[magnetic field]] will bend. The radius by which the trajectory of a moving ion is turned by the magnetic field is determined by the mass of the atom. The [[Mass spectrometry|mass spectrometer]] uses this principle to measure the [[mass-to-charge ratio]] of ions. If a sample contains multiple isotopes, the mass spectrometer can determine the proportion of each isotope in the sample by measuring the intensity of the different beams of ions. Techniques to vaporize atoms include [[inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy]] and [[inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry]], both of which use a plasma to vaporize samples for analysis.<ref name=sab53_13_1739 />

The [[atom probe|atom-probe tomograph]] has sub-nanometer resolution in 3-D and can chemically identify individual atoms using [[time-of-flight mass spectrometry]].<ref name=rsi39_1_83 />

Electron emission techniques such as [[X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy]] (XPS) and [[Auger electron spectroscopy]] (AES), which measure the binding energies of the [[core electron]]s, are used to identify the atomic species present in a sample in a non-destructive way. With proper focusing both can be made area-specific. Another such method is [[electron energy loss spectroscopy]] (EELS), which measures the energy loss of an [[electron beam]] within a [[transmission electron microscope]] when it interacts with a portion of a sample.

Spectra of [[excited state]]s can be used to analyze the atomic composition of distant [[star]]s. Specific light [[wavelength]]s contained in the observed light from stars can be separated out and related to the quantized transitions in free gas atoms. These colors can be replicated using a [[gas-discharge lamp]] containing the same element.<ref name=lochner2007 /> [[Helium]] was discovered in this way in the spectrum of the Sun 23&nbsp;years before it was found on Earth.<ref name=winter2007 />