Using functionalized tips, the atomic resolution of a single organic molecule can be achieved by atomic force microscopy (AFM) operating in the regime of short-ranged repulsive Pauli forces while the van der Waals and electrostatic interactions only add a diffuse attractive background. To theoretically describe the atomic contrast a simple model is introduced in which the Pauli repulsion is assumed to follow a power law as a function of the probed charge density. Even, different bond orders of individual carbon-carbon bonds in organic molecules can be distinguished by AFM.
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