MIT moves 40,000 atoms in 40 minutes

MIT researchers and collaborators at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory said on May 13 that they had developed a way to move tens of thousands of atoms inside a material in minutes at room temperature. MIT News said the work uses algorithms to position an electron beam at specific locations in a crystal and scan it to drive atomic motion. (news.mit.edu) A Nature paper published the same day described the method as deterministic atomic engineering in a three-dimensional crystal and said the team created ordered arrangements of more than 40,000 user-defined defects. (nature.com) The result drew attention because it moved atomic manipulation beyond the small, surface-level demonstrations that have long defined the field. (news.mit.edu) MIT said earlier techniques generally moved atoms only across surfaces in two dimensions and often required ultracold, high-vacuum conditions. The new method, the institute said, worked inside the material and at room temperature. ### How did the MIT-led team say it moved so many atoms so quickly? The MIT team said the method directs an electron beam with precision of a few picometers at target atoms in a crystalline semiconductor. MIT News said the beam is then scanned in a controlled way to drive atomic motions and create defects where atoms and vacancies are deliberately repositioned. (news.mit.edu) Nature said the researchers demonstrated “deterministic atomic engineering in a 3D crystal,” creating more than 40,000 ordered defects within minutes across a volume measuring 150 nanometers by 100 nanometers by 13 nanometers. The paper frames the advance as mesoscale atomic engineering rather than a single-atom stunt, because the process is repeated at scale inside the lattice. (news.mit.edu) ### What exactly was built inside the material? The May 13 paper said the team created more than 40,000 quantum defects in a crystalline semiconductor material. MIT described those defects as rearrangements of columns of individual atoms that can be placed to produce quantum properties chosen by the researchers. (news.mit.edu) Julian Klein, an MIT research scientist who conceived and directed the project, said the results showed the ability to “deterministically move atoms repeatedly within a material’s 3D atomic lattice.” Frances Ross, MIT’s TDK Professor in Materials Science and Engineering, said the method was useful because defects can be built beneath the surface in three dimensions and tuned for function. (nature.com) ### How does this compare with IBM’s 35-atom demonstration? IBM researchers Donald Eigler and Erhard Schweizer arranged 35 xenon atoms in 1989 to spell “IBM” on a nickel surface, using a scanning tunneling microscope under cryogenic conditions over about 22 hours, according to IBM and accounts in Nature Nanotechnology and Chemical & Engineering News. (news.mit.edu) That experiment became one of the best-known demonstrations of atomic manipulation. MIT and Oak Ridge contrasted their result with that benchmark by emphasizing scale, speed and geometry. MIT said the older methods worked on surfaces in two dimensions, while the new approach moves atoms within a three-dimensional crystal at room temperature. (news.mit.edu) ### Who took part in the work, and where was it published? MIT News said the project involved MIT, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and other institutions. Julian Klein and Frances Ross were identified by MIT as key researchers on the work. The paper appeared in Nature on May 13 under the title “Mesoscale atomic engineering in a crystal lattice.” (ibm.com) Nature’s abstract said the method produced ordered arrangements of defects in a crystal lattice, while MIT said the work could help researchers study quantum behavior in materials and eventually improve devices that use quantum defects. That potential application language came from the researchers and MIT’s account of the paper. (news.mit.edu) ### What comes next from here? MIT said the technique offers a new way to study quantum behavior in materials and could be applied to systems including sensing, optical and magnetic technologies. The next public reference point for the work is the Nature paper published on May 13, which sets out the method and the 40,000-defect demonstration in detail. (news.mit.edu)