Changing colours of light

In a phenomenon known as mechanochromism, certain solid and liquid crystalline materials change their photoluminescence properties upon mechanical stimulation, such as grinding, ball-milling and crushing. Although such compounds ...

Modular construction—on a molecular scale

Modular constructions from cages (proteins), hubs (metal ions), and struts (organic linkers) allows the rational design of porous scaffolds. The inherent chemical and structural diversity of these building blocks leads to ...

Trapped light orbits within an intriguing material

Light becomes trapped as it orbits within tiny granules of a crystalline material that has increasingly intrigued physicists, a team led by University of California, San Diego, physics professor Michael Fogler has found.

Moving sector walls on the nano scale

Scientists at ETH Zurich are able to visualize and selectively modify the internal order of an intensively researched class of materials known as multiferroics. This opens the door to promising applications in electronics. ...

Towards controlled dislocations

Crystallographic defects or irregularities (known as dislocations) are often found within crystalline materials. Two main types of dislocation exist: edge and screw type. However, dislocations found in real materials tend ...

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