Illustration recreating the IBM atom manipulation demonstration. Thirty-five xenon atoms spelling out the letters 'IBM' were arranged on a nickel substrate. The experiment, carried out using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), took place on 11 November 1989. IBM Fellow Don Eigler and his team demonstrated the ability to manipulate individual atoms. This was the first time atoms had been precisely positioned on a flat surface, and marked a pioneering moment in the history of nanotechnology. See C030/3788 for the STM image.