Month: September 2022

OPAL MANIPULATION. "We use elastically induced phase transitions to break the structural symmetry of self-assembled nanostructures, producing significantly modified functional properties." https://lnkd.in/e7fBia4 View in LinkedIn

RULE BREAKING. "Stretching ordered polymer opals in different directions transforms the fcc photonic crystal into correspondingly distorted monoclinic lattices. This breaks the conventional selection rules for scattering from the crystal planes, yielding extra multiply scattered colors when the phase-breaking stretch is in specific directions." http://www.np.phy.cam.ac.uk/uploads/2010/prl10-stretchtune-opalopt.pdf View in LinkedIn

ASYMMETRIC UNIVERSE. "Particle physics is left-handed in its own way. The electrons emitted during certain radioactive decays all spin in a left-handed fashion. The force that controls these decays, the so-called weak force, is thought to have an influence on the formation of biomolecules." http://www.astrobio.net/news-exclusive/how-life-shatters-chemistrys-mirror/ View in LinkedIn

"SYMMETRY is a crucial ingredient in the self-assembly of nanostructures with novel optical, electronic, magnetic, or thermal functionality...many new physical properties that are desirable to access depend on breaking this symmetry to introduce higher-order complexity, which has proved difficult. On the other hand, in naturally occurring photonic crystals, such anisotropic structures are widely prevalent." http://www.np.phy.cam.ac.uk/uploads/2010/prl10-stretchtune-opalopt.pdf View in LinkedIn

"A REVOLUTION in novel nanoparticless and colloidal building blocks has been enabled by recent breakthroughs in particle synthesis. These new particles are poised to become the 'atoms' and 'molecules' of tomorrow's materials." https://lnkd.in/ePEAefh View in LinkedIn

PROGRAMMABLE PHENOMENA. "Many questions remain. What is the molecular mechanism of biological ferroelectricity, what are possible physiological and pathological implications, and can we take advantage of the phenomena in bio-electronics interfaces?" https://lnkd.in/euQKRwF View in LinkedIn

CHANNELING A SIGNAL. "Piezoelectricity is the accumulation of a charge in a solid in response to mechanical stress." This can therefore be used to program inert materials, since the charge can be made into information. http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2012/05/13/electricity-from-viruses/ View in LinkedIn

FORCE GENERATES CHARGE. "In piezoelectric materials, application of mechanical stress yields electrical charge (direct piezoelectric effect). If an electrical field is applied to a piezoelectric sample, it produces mechanical strain (converse piezoelectric effect)." https://lnkd.in/ejQXn-P View in LinkedIn

"THE PIEZOELECTRIC effect was discovered in 1880 and has since been found in crystals, ceramics, bone, proteins and DNA. It has also been put to use. Electric cigarette lighters and scanning probe microscopes couldn't work without it, to name a few." http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2012/05/13/electricity-from-viruses/ View in LinkedIn

ASSYMETRY IS PROGRAMMABLE. "Pasteur was probably the first to suggest over 100 years ago that biological systems have chiralic dissymmetric properties and that these properties are important for the functioning of the biological systems. Much later, researchers began to study piezolectric, pyroelectric, and ferroelectric properties of biological materials." http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-011-4094-2_1 View in LinkedIn