Crystalline systems are physical systems in which constituent particles (atoms, ions, or molecules) are arranged in a periodic lattice that exhibits long-range translational order. They are characterized by discrete symmetry operations described by space groups, with unit cells repeating periodically in one, two, or three dimensions. This periodicity gives rise to well-defined Brillouin zones, phonon dispersion relations, and electronic band structures, which critically determine mechanical, optical, thermal, and electronic properties. Crystalline systems serve as fundamental models in condensed matter physics for studying phase transitions, defects (dislocations, vacancies), and emergent phenomena such as superconductivity and ferroelectricity.
Waves of light and sound interact to drive electronic and structural changes in a perovskite crystal. At the atomic scale, nothing is ever truly still. Materials that appear perfectly rigid and motionless to the naked eye ...
Condensed Matter
4 hours ago
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Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory are helping show what it means to design a material almost atom-by-atom. In two publications, scientists show they can carefully choose the types ...
Nanomaterials
Jun 4, 2026
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Nanodiamonds are tiny diamond particles only a few nanometers in size. Because they are chemically highly stable and can host so-called color centers, optically active defects in the crystal lattice, they are considered promising ...
Nanophysics
Jun 3, 2026
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For nearly a century, there were two known kinds of magnets. Ferromagnets are the classic magnets that attract metal and keep pictures stuck to the refrigerator. Antiferromagnets hide their magnetism at the atomic scale but ...
Condensed Matter
May 29, 2026
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Honeycombs are famous for their elegant design, but now they may have found a new application: quantum computing. To collect knowledge from subatomic particles, quantum computers require carefully designed materials capable ...
Condensed Matter
May 28, 2026
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Approximately 75% of marine organisms are bioluminescent, with specialized light-emitting organs called photophores. They use the light they produce for various purposes, like attracting mates, luring prey, or confusing predators.
Biotechnology
May 26, 2026
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In the race to develop safer, faster-charging solid-state batteries and more efficient thermoelectric conversion technologies, engineers and scientists have long faced a fundamental challenge: how to ensure ions move through ...
Condensed Matter
May 26, 2026
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Diamond is extremely valuable to science and technology not for its sparkle but for its extreme hardness, high thermal conductivity, transparency to a large fraction of the light spectrum, and a host of other exceptional ...
Superconductivity
May 22, 2026
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Complexity may seem subjective, but a quantitative measure of the complexity of nanomaterials was recently developed by a team of researchers from the University of Michigan Engineering, the University of Southern California ...
Nanomaterials
May 21, 2026
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Within a crystal's atomic structure, tiny atomic-scale flaws will naturally occur where electrons can become trapped. These defects have emerged as one of the leading platforms for quantum information processing. Through ...
