Quantum behaviour plays a crucial role in novel and emergent material properties, such as superconductivity and magnetism. Unfortunately, it is still impossible to calculate the underlying quantum behaviour, let alone fully understand it. Scientists of QuTech, the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience in Delft and TNO, in collaboration with the ETH Zurich and the University of Maryland, have now succeeded in building an ‘artificial material’ that mimics this type of quantum behaviour on a small scale. In doing so, they have laid the foundations for new insights and potential applications. Their work is published today in Nature.