aNewDomain.net — IBM is moving atoms around in this historic animation. Called A Boy and His Atom, Guinness already has certified it as the tiniest animation ever.
The 90-second short feature comprises, as pixels, individual carbon atoms IBM pulled from carbon monoxide (CO) molecules. Researchers scoot the atoms around into an animation thanks to two scanning tunneling microscopes, IBM researchers say.
View A Boy and His Atom below and see IBM’s video explaining how it made the movie below that.
You might recall that in 1981 IBM researchers invented the Nobel-winning scanning tunneling tech it used here … more on that below the fold.
Video: IBM Research, Almaden Research Center
The enabling tech here is, of course, the dual scanning tunneling microscopes. IBM researchers in Zurich invented STM tech in 1981. IBMers Heinrich Rohrer and Gerd Binnig received the Nobel Prize in Physics for the tech in 1985.
Find the Rohrer-Binnig patent here.
IBM employed sub miniature magnets for the 242 frame production, as IBM researchers explain in the video below. Here’s how they created A Boy and His Atom.
Video: IBM YouTube Channel
