--- title: Researchers “reprogram” materials by quickly rearranging... description: MIT researchers, in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have developed a technique to precisely move tens of thousands of individual atoms within... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/researchers-reprogram-materials-by-quickly-rearranging-their-atoms-qrvitskl7 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Researchers “reprogram” materials by quickly rearranging their atoms | daily.dev og:description: MIT researchers, in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have developed a technique to precisely move tens of thousands of individual atoms within... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/researchers-reprogram-materials-by-quickly-rearranging-their-atoms-qrvitskl7 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/QRVItsKL7.png og:image:alt: Researchers “reprogram” materials by quickly rearranging their atoms og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Researchers “reprogram” materials by quickly rearranging their atoms **[MIT News](https://daily.dev/sources/mit)** · 7 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary MIT researchers, in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have developed a technique to precisely move tens of thousands of individual atoms within a material's 3D atomic lattice in minutes at room temperature. Using algorithms to direct an electron beam with picometer precision, they created over 40,000 quantum defects in a crystalline semiconductor (chromium sulfide bromide) in about 40 minutes. Unlike existing methods limited to 2D surface manipulation under ultracold vacuum conditions, this approach works inside materials, making defects more stable and usable outside lab settings. The technique could enable programmable matter and advance quantum computers, magnetic memory, and atomic-scale logic devices. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Turning molecules into reliable electronic devices](https://daily.dev/posts/turning-molecules-into-reliable-electronic-devices-nmunctwuh) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Quantum Computers Get a Boost from a Tiny Material Tweak](https://daily.dev/posts/quantum-computers-get-a-boost-from-a-tiny-material-tweak-hrgh6ymhd) · The Quantum Insider · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Scientists build a quantum computer that can repair itself using recycled atoms](https://daily.dev/posts/scientists-build-a-quantum-computer-that-can-repair-itself-using-recycled-atoms-lvnje169e) · Phys.org · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [MIT researchers use AI to uncover atomic defects in materials](https://daily.dev/posts/mit-researchers-use-ai-to-uncover-atomic-defects-in-materials-cqhw9wmyv) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#science](https://daily.dev/tags/science), [#quantum-computing](https://daily.dev/tags/quantum-computing), [#nanotechnology](https://daily.dev/tags/nanotechnology) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/researchers-reprogram-materials-by-quickly-rearranging-their-atoms-qrvitskl7) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Researchers “reprogram” materials by quickly rearranging their atoms","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/researchers-reprogram-materials-by-quickly-rearranging-their-atoms-qrvitskl7","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/researchers-reprogram-materials-by-quickly-rearranging-their-atoms-qrvitskl7"},"datePublished":"2026-05-13T15:07:12.207Z","dateModified":"2026-05-13T15:07:30.453Z","description":"MIT researchers, in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have developed a technique to precisely move tens of thousands of individual atoms within...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/1ef43544df2624e98c8442d64d4e12c7?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/1ef43544df2624e98c8442d64d4e12c7?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"MIT News","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"MIT News","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/881e20a40aa44b12ba4bd27f5c14289d","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/mit"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/researchers-reprogram-materials-by-quickly-rearranging-their-atoms-qrvitskl7","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"science,quantum-computing,nanotechnology","timeRequired":"PT7M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MIT News","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/mit"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Researchers “reprogram” materials by quickly rearranging their atoms"}]} ```