Atomic Stop-motion

A Boy and His Atom, created by IBM Research in 2013, is the world’s smallest stop-motion film, made by manipulating individual atoms to tell a short story.

Scientists at IBM’s Almaden Research Center in San Jose used a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) operating in ultra-high vacuum and at temperatures near –268°C (5 K) to move carbon monoxide molecules across a copper substrate one at a time.

By applying electrical pulses through the microscope’s sharp metal tip, researchers precisely nudged each molecule into position, capturing 242 individual frames to animate a tiny boy playing with a ball and bouncing on a trampoline.

Each “pixel” in the film measured only a few nanometers, and the entire scene was magnified 100 million times to be visible on screen.

Beyond its Guinness World Record recognition, the project showcased IBM’s atomic-scale control technology and its potential applications in data storage and nanotechnology research.