The future of electronics will be based on novel kinds of materials. Sometimes, however, the naturally occurring topology of atoms makes it difficult for new physical effects to be created. To tackle this problem, researchers have now successfully designed superconductors one atom at a time, creating new states of matter.
The technique is not novel (a decade ago IBM even made a stop-motion film with carbon monoxide molecules to demonstrate it, and more than twenty years before that showed off “IBM In Atoms” as a proof of concept) but it’s an interesting application. The real question in terms of application is, can this technique open the door to higher temperature superconductors?