Having a ball: Crystallization in a sphere

Crystallization is the assembly of atoms or molecules into highly ordered solid crystals, which occurs in natural, biological, and artificial systems. However, crystallization in confined spaces, such as the formation of ...

Technique reveals how crystals form on surfaces

The process of crystallization, in which atoms or molecules line up in orderly arrays like soldiers in formation, is the basis for many of the materials that define modern life, including the silicon in microchips and solar ...

The secret behind crystals that shrink when heated

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have new experimental evidence and a predictive theory that solves a long-standing materials science mystery: why certain crystalline materials ...

Promising discovery could lead to a better, cheaper solar cell

McGill University researchers have gained tantalizing new insights into the properties of perovskites, one of the world's most promising materials in the quest to produce a more efficient, robust and cheaper solar cell.

Chains of atoms move at lightning speed inside metals

A phenomenon that has previously been seen when researchers simulate the properties of planet cores at extreme pressures has now also been observed in pure titanium at atmospheric pressure. Chains of atoms dash around at ...

Crystallizing knowledge with a learning machine

Transforming a new drug from a set of liquid ingredients in a lab to a pill in a box can be an exercise in complex chemistry. To better understand how drug ingredients crystallize, UConn researchers mined a vast collection ...

The taming of the light screw

DESY and MPSD scientists have created high-order harmonics from solids with controlled polarization states, taking advantage of both crystal symmetry and attosecond electronic dynamics. The newly demonstrated technique might ...

Molecular motors run in unison in a metal-organic framework

For molecular motors to be exploited effectively, they need to be able to operate in unison. However, integrating billions of these nanometre-sized motors into a single system and getting them to operate in unison has proved ...

New insights into magnetic quantum effects in solids

Using a new computational method, an international collaboration has succeeded for the first time in systematically investigating magnetic quantum effects in the well-known 3-D pyrochlore Heisenberg model. The surprising ...

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