Crystal structure
hideIn mineralogy and crystallography, a crystal structure is a unique arrangement of atoms in a crystal. A crystal structure is composed of a motif, a set of atoms arranged in a particular way, and a lattice. Motifs are located upon the points of a lattice, which is an array of points repeating periodically in three dimensions. The points can be thought of as forming identical tiny boxes, called unit cells, that fill the space of the lattice. The lengths of the edges of a unit cell and the angles between them are called the lattice parameters. The symmetry properties of the crystal are embodied in its space group. A crystal's structure and symmetry play a role in determining many of its properties, such as cleavage, electronic band structure, and optical properties.
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News tagged with crystal lattice
Exerting better control over matter waves
Mar 27, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (29) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- “The concept of matter waves is at the heart of quantum mechanics,” Oliver Morsch tells PhysOrg.com. “At the beginning of the last century, scientists discovered that solid particles could exhibit proper ...
Stretching opens up possibilities for graphene
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Sep 28, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (13) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers say they have found a simple way to improve the semiconducting properties of the world’s thinnest material - by giving it a good tug.
Scientists prove unconventional superconductivity in new iron arsenide compounds
Jan 09, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (13) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory used inelastic neutron scattering to show that superconductivity in a new family of iron arsenide superconductors cannot ...
Simply Weird Stuff: Making Supersolids with Ultracold Gas Atoms
Jan 13, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
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Physicists at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Maryland have proposed a recipe for turning ultracold “boson” atoms—the ingredients ...
Under Observation -- Restless Atoms Cause Materials to Age
Sep 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Atoms have the habit of jumping through solids - a practice that physicists have recently been able to follow for the first time using a brand new method. This scientific advance was made ...
Keep on spinning: A persistent spin state that could revolutionize spintronics
Apr 02, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (10) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- By controlling the collective spin state of highly mobile electrons in semiconductors, researchers in the Materials Sciences Division (MSD) at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley ...
Trading carats for nanometers - and defective diamonds for crystal clear microscopy
Mar 02, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (5) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Large, perfect diamonds are precious to almost all of us but to some scientists, it is the defects that really matter. This is because defects can form nanoscopic color centers, which play ...
A new approach to engineering for extreme environments (w/ Video)
Jun 24, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Composite materials such as fiberglass, which take on a mix of properties of their constituent compounds, have been around for decades. Now, an MIT materials scientist is taking composites ...
