quasicrystal
/ˈkweɪzʌɪkrɪstəl
/ /ˈkweɪsʌɪkrɪstəl/ /ˈkwɑːzizʌɪkrɪstəl/noun Physics
A locally regular aggregation of molecules resembling a crystal in certain properties (such as that of diffraction) but not having a consistent spatial periodicity.She was cited for ‘pioneering work on the surface structures, stabilities and other properties of metal films and quasicrystals, and elucidation of surface structure and chemistry of water on metals.’...
- Previous work has suggested that Bloch-like waves - which describe electron motion in classic crystals - can occur in quasicrystals as well.
- The alloy forms metastable icosahedral quasicrystals, but Kelton was focusing instead on the alloy's stable crystalline phase, a complex polytetrahedral arrangement called C14 Laves.
Derivatives
quasicrystalline
- The experimentalists created one new quasicrystalline phase after another, while the theoreticians developed mathematical systems for describing their symmetry in three dimensions.
- But because the liquid and quasicrystal phases have similar order - and hence a smaller - the quasicrystalline phase has the lower barrier and will solidify first.
- We designate this phase as a quasicrystalline phase, L q.