Ordinary, not-marching-in-step atomic beams are already used in precision clocks, and to etch some high-performance computer chips.

ECONOMIST: A new way has been devised to make a peculiar form of matter

Once this is done, a series of chemical processes, some of which require high temperatures, are used to etch microscopic electrical circuits on to the chip's surface.

ECONOMIST: Transistors: A tall story | The