{"id":670926,"date":"2026-05-15T10:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T10:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/670926\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T10:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T10:03:10","slug":"scientists-create-40000-atomic-defects-in-crystal-to-engineer-programmable-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/670926\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists create 40,000 atomic defects in crystal to engineer programmable materials"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Scheme\"<\/p>\n

By creating 40,000 user-defined defects in a single crystal lattice, researchers have shown that atomic manipulation can be achieved on the mesoscopic scale \u2013 between the single-atom and bulk-material ranges. The work potentially offers a way to engineer materials with desired properties by fine-tuning the positions of individual atoms within their structures.<\/p>\n

Scientists have known for decades that microscopy techniques can be used to manipulate the positions<\/a> of individual atoms. In 1990, two IBM researchers carried out an iconic demonstration, dragging 35 xenon atoms across a nickel surface to spell out the company\u2019s name<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, a team from the US and Europe has scaled up the concept to a whole new level. Using the electron beam in a specially programmed scanning transmission electron microscope, the researchers introduced 40,000 defects into a chromium sulfur bromide lattice. The CrSBr semiconductor was selected as a model sample and, with their automated process, the researchers could subtly reposition individual chromium atoms in a predictable manner. They describe the resulting material as \u2018a new form of engineered artificial matter\u2019, and note that it remains stable at room temperature outside of the microscope.<\/p>\n

The defects were introduced within minutes across an area measuring 150nm \u00d7 100nm with a depth of 13nm. However, the team believes that the method is generalisable and could be scaled up to the macroscopic level. The researchers write that the technique offers a new way to produce programmable matter in which \u2018functionality is engineered from the atom up\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By creating 40,000 user-defined defects in a single crystal lattice, researchers have shown that atomic manipulation can be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,66],"class_list":["post-670926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}