[1P01-32] Poster session

[1P07] Structural Analysis of Organic Molecules from Asteroid Ryugu by AFM

Kota Iwata¹, Yasuhiro Oba², Hiroshi Naraoka³, Hikaru Yabuta⁴, Shogo Tachibana⁵, *Yoshiaki Sugimoto¹ (1. Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo (Japan), 2. Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University (Japan), 3. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Kyushu University (Japan), 4. Department of Earth and Planetary System Science, Hiroshima University (Japan), 5. Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tokyo (Japan))

To overcome the limitations of conventional macroscopic analyses, we applied high-resolution frequency modulation atomic force microscopy (FM-AFM) with a CO-functionalized tip to achieve single-molecule real-space imaging of organic molecules from the asteroid Ryugu. The single-molecule analysis successfully identified 22 distinct structures, revealing unexpected diversity that ranges from small multi-ring frameworks to giant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with over 100 fused rings and three-dimensional curvature. These insights provide the first definitive proof of giant, non-planar PAHs within asteroids, demonstrating that high-resolution AFM serves as a breakthrough single-molecule platform that powerfully complements conventional bulk methods.

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