The findings, by Dr Mikkel Anderson and his team, could help with the development of a wide range of technologies, including super fast quantum computers.

Otago University physicists say they have found a way to control individual atoms, using a process that involves seven lasers and freezing the atoms to almost -273 degrees Celsius.

They are able to make the atoms appear wherever they want them to.

"This represents the ultimate control over individual atoms," lead Otago researcher Dr Mikkel Andersen said.

"We are pushing the boundaries for the level of control that scientists can have over microscopic systems."

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Andersen and five others from Otago's Department of Physics "cool the atoms, hold them, change how they affect each other and make them visible by shining laser light, with different frequency and intensity, on them".

"We make repeated use of the phenomenal degree of control one can have over the frequency of laser light, which is a truly astounding feature of lasers," Andersen said.

Dropping the temperature of an atom to almost absolute zero (-273°C), eliminated its "random wobbling", allowing it to reach a quantum state with high purity.

Along with the seven lasers, the process also involves components from compact disc players, and precision mirrors.

The scientists accomplished the feat without having the kind of low-noise laboratory that would normally be considered necessary for such experiments.

They use an air-conditioned laboratory from which as many kinds of noise – electromagnetic, sound, temperature contrasts – that can affect the equipment and results have been minimised or eliminated.

They also use tables that float on air to keep down the noise.

The results could help with the development of a wide range of technologies, including incredibly fast quantum computers for calculations of extreme complexity, Andersen said.

"It is likely the main applications will be in technologies we have not yet thought about."

Technical revolutions in past decades largely, if not entirely, originated from being able to control systems at a smaller and smaller scale.

In an earlier breakthrough, in 2010, the team isolated and captured a neutral rubidium-85 atom, and then photographed it for the first time.

The next steps are investigations of how two atoms being brought together can exchange properties, and building molecules in particular quantum states from individual atoms.

The Marsden Fund provided $717,391 over three years for the research. A report on the work is to appear in Physical Review A, Rapid Communications.