Engineers have figured out how to mass-produce electronic parts that are only five atoms wide.
April 14, 2026
Original Paper
A scalable platform for nanometer-scale quantum confinement
arXiv · 2604.08957
The Takeaway
They developed a way to print features just 1.75 nanometers across over large areas, a size where quantum physics takes over. This is a massive leap for creating ultra-fast electronics and "quantum dots" that were previously impossible to manufacture at scale.
From the abstract
Overcoming the limitations of current nanofabrication techniques to achieve nanoscale feature sizes is essential for achieving new regimes of light-matter interactions at extreme frequencies and length scales. Here, we demonstrate a scalable nanofabrication platform capable of producing in-plane feature sizes down to 1.75 nm, pushing the boundaries of current top-down nanofabrication techniques. Using precise thickness control of atomic layer deposition (ALD) and employing widely spaced oxide na