Members of Harvard’s physics department have created a quantum gas microscope that allows atoms to be observed individually at a temperature of five billionths of a degree above absolute zero.

This isolation of individual atoms is the first milestone in a project that was started about four years ago by assistant professor of physics Markus Greiner. Until now, scientists have only studied these atoms in bulk.

This is the first useful quantum information system to be developed. Theoretically, a super-computer could perform similar functions, but even a very large, complex computer would only be able to handle information of about 17 atoms.

“This field is exciting because it allows [us] to look into long-standing problems in new ways with comparatively simple setups,” Simon Foelling, one of the researchers, wrote in an e-mailed statement. “Also, the progress is tremendous which makes it an exciting field to be in—there is always something new.”

Greiner and his team simulate the system through “optical lattices”—three-dimensional crystals formed by lasers.

By observing atom behavior through the high-resolution microscope, hundreds of atoms in the lattice can be viewed. In the cold environment, the atoms behave according to quantum mechanics.

Their work, which is conducted at the Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms, is interdisciplinary, according to Waseem S. Bakr, one of the researchers and a graduate student in physics.

“This research is at the crossroads of two different fields—physics and solid state research,” Bakr said.

The center has been one of the most successful labs in this field of research, Greiner said.

Bakr simulated their work with M&Ms, gummy fruit snacks, and a foam egg carton. The M&Ms were spread out on the foam carton and represented atoms, and the gummies were impurities.

The scientists explained that the microscope will allow the team to create a lattice “egg carton” made of lasers in order to observe individual atoms, the M&Ms, without impurities, the gummies.

Eventually scientists will be able to use this information to explore the physics that results in high temperature superconductivity or magnetism.

According to Bakr, often researchers stumble upon new materials like superconductors.

“This will allow us to try to understand the microscopics of these materials and ‘designer matter,’ not discover them by accident,” he said.