Quantum simulations show vibrating atoms can appear active without moving at all

German scientists used quantum simulations to reveal that tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS), which images atomic vibrations at the angstrom scale, can be misleading because metal surfaces distort the signals. Their research shows that the brightest areas in TERS images don't necessarily indicate the largest atomic movements, challenging assumptions about how these nanoscale imaging techniques represent atomic motion and providing more accurate interpretation methods.