Discovered more than 125 years ago, liquid crystals play a significant role in screens of computer monitors and TV, watches, clocks and a variety of other electronics displays. Scientists are still attempting to improve the molecular makeup of these liquid crystals.
UCSB researchers have used modern theoretical methods to detect particular defects that hinder the performance of a light-emitting diode (LED). The characterization of such defects present in the LED’s atomic structure could result in the development of longer lasting and more efficient LED lighting.
The detector group at the Swiss Light Source at PSI has been one of the pioneers in the development of custom-made hybrid pixel array detectors (HPADs) for synchrotron applications. In a paper published recently [Jungmann-Smith et al. (2016). J. Synchrotron Rad. 23, 385-394; doi:10.1107/S1600577515023541], this group shows that it is now possible to develop HPADs with sufficient low noise to allow single-photon detection below 1 keV as well as to perform spectroscopic imaging. A commentary has also been written about the work [Graafsma (2016). J. Synchrotron Rad. 23, 383-384; doi:10.1107/S1600577516002721].
A new 3-D modeling and data-extraction technique is about to transform the field of X-ray crystallography, with potential benefits for both the pharmaceutical industry and structural biology.
A team of physicists and materials scientists at Lehigh University have developed a new technique to create single crystals, where a broader range of materials can be employed in high-technology applications such as solar energy devices, microelectronics, etc.
A solid’s surface usually melts into a thin liquid layer prior to the melting point. This phenomenon of surface melting occurs in all categories of solids: for example, two ice cubes can fuse at a temperature less than 0°C as the premelted surface water is surrounded inside the bulk at the point of contact and is frozen. Premelting promotes crystal growth, and is vital in geology, metallurgy, and meteorology, such as frost heave, snowflake growth, glacier movement, and skating. As there is a lack of microscopic measurements, the causes of several premelting scenarios and the impact of dimensionality on the premelting phenomenon are poorly understood.
In order to study the effects of microgravity in a better way, Japanese researchers have grown protein crystals and successfully determined the rate of the crystals’ growth onboard the International Space Station (ISS) using laser interferometry.
Scientists from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have achieved single-particle resolution, for the first time, in the investigation of surface premelting phenomena.
Researchers at Princeton University have observed a bizarre behavior in a strange new crystal that could hold the key for future electronic technologies. Unlike most materials in which electrons travel on the surface, in these new materials the electrons sink into the depths of the crystal through special conductive channels.
X-ray crystallographic analysis is one of the only methods that provides direct information on molecular structures at the atomic level. The method, however, has the intrinsic limitation that the target molecules must be crystalline, and high-quality single crystals must be prepared before measurement.
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