IBM (atoms)


IBM in atoms was a demonstration by IBM scientists in 1989 of a technology capable of manipulating individual atoms. A scanning tunneling microscope was used to arrange 35 individual xenon atoms on a substrate of chilled crystal of nickel to spell out the three letter company initialism. It was the first time atoms had been precisely positioned on a flat surface.
On April 30, 2013 IBM published an article on its website and a video on YouTube called "A Boy And His Atom: The World's Smallest Movie".

Research

and Erhard Schweizer of the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California, discovered the ability using a scanning tunneling microscope to move atoms about the surface. In the demonstration, where the microscope was used in low temperature, they positioned 35 individual xenon atoms on a substrate of chilled crystal of nickel to form the acronym "IBM". The logo they created measured three billionths of a meter long. They also created chains of xenon atoms similar in form to molecules. It is noted that the demonstrated capacity showed the potential of fabricating rudimentary structures and allowed insights as to the extent of device miniaturization.