A beam of electrons can “kick” single atoms out of a two-dimensional sheet of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) in a controllable way, defying predictions that electron irradiation would be too damaging for this purpose. Even more remarkably, the physicists behind the discovery predict that a higher-energy version of the same technique could preferentially remove nitrogen atoms from the hBN lattice, which is unexpected since nitrogen is heavier than boron. The empty spaces, or vacancies, left behind by the “missing” nitrogen atoms could have applications in quantum computing, communication networks and sensors.
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