IBM atom manipulation demonstration. Thirty-five xenon atoms spelling out the letters 'IBM' on a nickel substrate. This experiment, carried out using

---

IBM atom manipulation demonstration. Thirty-five xenon atoms spelling out the letters 'IBM' on a nickel substrate. This experiment, carried out using a scanning tunneling microscope, took place on 11 November 1989. IBM Fellow Don Eigler and his team demonstrated the ability to manipulate individual atoms. This was the first time atoms had been precisely positioned on a flat surface, and marked a pioneering moment in the history of nanotechnology.

---

Size: 4299px × 2882px
Photo credit: © IBM RESEARCH/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -, 11, 1900s, 1989, 20th, almaden, atom, atomic, atoms, background, black, breakthrough, center, century, coloured, cut, cut-, cut-outs, cutout, cutouts, demonstrating, demonstration, don, eigler, experiment, false-coloured, historical, history, ibm, initialism, landmark, manipulation, microscope, microscopy, nanotechnology, november, outs, physical, physics, pioneering, research, scanning, sem, stm, tunneling, tunnelling