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Sugimoto Lab
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A microscopy lab that sees, moves, and identifies atoms one by one.
AboutAbout the lab
Seeing, moving, and identifying atoms.
Sugimoto Lab conducts research using scanning probe microscopes, which can directly observe individual atoms.
All matter is made of atoms, and its various properties are determined at the scale of nanometers, so techniques are needed to evaluate and control materials at the atomic level.
The lab works on improving the resolution of microscopes, making it possible to measure the element and electronic state of individual atoms, and assembling nanostructures by moving atoms.
By evaluating the properties of materials at the atomic scale and understanding the physics and chemistry behind them, the lab searches for new materials and devices based on new principles.
Key terms
- Scanning probe microscope
- A microscope that brings a sharp tip close to the surface of a material and traces along it to produce an image of each atom on the surface
- Atomic force microscope
- A microscope that measures the force acting between a tip and a surface. It can observe even the surfaces of insulators, which do not conduct electricity, at the atomic level
- Nanometer
- A unit of length. In a solid, it is an extremely small length, about the width of a few atoms
NewsLab news
Paper on ice growth on a gold surface published in J. Chem. Phys.
Paper breaking the speed limit of chemical structure imaging published in PRL
Paper on reading and writing single-atom magnets using force published in Nat. Commun.
Paper directly observing organic molecules from the asteroid Ryugu with AFM announced
An undergraduate student received the Outstanding Bachelor's Thesis Award from the Department of Applied Physics
ResearchResearch themes
Using scanning probe microscopes, the lab measures the surfaces of a variety of materials at the atomic level and elucidates nanoscale phenomena. The lab also assembles nanostructures from individual atoms and explores new materials and devices with new operating principles.
*Illustrative imageAtom Manipulation
The tip of the microscope exerts a local action on the surface to move atoms one at a time. Using methods such as swapping the positions of different kinds of atoms and arranging them, even at room temperature, the lab explores nanomaterials and nanodevices with new functions across a wide range of elements.
*Illustrative imageElemental Identification
This research distinguishes which element each individual atom on a surface is. The lab proposed an elemental identification method that uses atomic force microscopy to measure the force of chemical bonding, but identifying atoms, including those that make up molecules, remains a challenging problem today.
*Illustrative imageLocal Measurements at the Atomic Level
Using an instrument that combines an atomic force microscope and a scanning tunneling microscope, the lab measures physical properties such as interaction force, local density of states, local contact potential difference, and energy dissipation at the atomic level.
MembersFaculty
Sugimoto Lab consists of faculty members, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and project researchers.As of 2026
- ProfessorYoshiaki SugimotoPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorYuuki YasuiPublications ↗
- Project Assistant ProfessorDilek Yildiz
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Advanced Measurement Laboratory; Nanotribology ( )” National Institute of Standards and Technology / Public domain (cropped)
- Atom Manipulation: “Scanning Tunneling Microscope Structure ( )” National Institute of Standards and Technology / Public domain (cropped)
- Elemental Identification: “Silicium-atomes” Guillaume Baffou / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Local Measurements at the Atomic Level: “Scanning tunneling microscope (STM) 250 nm by 250 nm image of one-atom-thick silver islands grown on palladium (111) surface” Ponor / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Ideue Lab): “Graphen” AlexanderAlUS / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Yoshimi Lab): “Molecular Beam Epitaxy System” SJMW1987 / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Fukutani Lab): “Photoemission laboratory” Food95 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Hasegawa Lab): “Scanning tunneling microscope (STM) 250 nm by 250 nm image of one-atom-thick silver islands grown on palladium (111) surface” Ponor / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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