Comment to "Imaging the atomic orbitals of carbon atomic chains with field-emission electron microscopy"

TL;DR

This paper critiques a previous interpretation of atomic orbital imaging in carbon chains, proposing that the observed patterns are due to ligand-induced symmetry breaking and pi-bonding alternation, supported by microscopic calculations.

Contribution

It clarifies the mechanism behind observed imaging patterns, emphasizing ligand effects and pi-bonding, challenging prior assumptions of axial symmetry stability.

Findings

The doublet pattern arises from ligand-induced symmetry breaking.

Pi-bonding alternation contributes to the observed patterns.

Previous models did not account for ligand effects.

Abstract

The observation of a stable doublet pattern in the field-emission electron microscopy of a linear atomic chain requires a stable mechanism breaking the axial symmetry, which is not identified correctly by Mikhailovskij et al. [Phys. Rev. B 80, 165404 (2009)]. Using microscopic calculations, we attribute the observed pattern to the symmetry breaking produced by the ligand where the chain is attached, plus carbon pi-bonding alternation.