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What Are Quasicrystals, and Why Does NASA Study Them?
For 40 years, finding new quasicrystals has been like searching for four-leaf clovers in a field. You’re lucky if you find them, but you can’t make it happen on command.
These strange materials break all the rules of how crystals are supposed to work, and discovering them has largely been a matter of chance.
Now, NASA-funded researchers have figured out how to grow these mysterious structures. Scientists can deliberately grow quasicrystals and watch every step of the process happen in real time under a microscope.
What Are Quasicrystals?
Imagine building with toy blocks, but instead of using regular bricks that create simple, repeating grids, you're working with special pieces that form incredibly organized patterns that never perfectly repeat. That's essentially what quasicrystals are — materials where atoms arrange themselves in highly ordered but non-repeating patterns.
Traditional crystals look identical when rotated at certain angles, and they can only have particular “symmetries” like 2-fold, 4-fold or 6-fold (like how a square looks the same 4 times as you spin it around). Quasicrystals can have 5-fold, 8-fold, 10-fold, or even 12-fold symmetries that scientists once thought were impossible.
This strange structure is what makes quasicrystals promising for advanced applications.
Scientists Turn the Dial on a 40-Year-Old Mystery
Professor David Marr and his team at Colorado School of Mines cracked a decades-long puzzle. Using funding from a NASA grant, they developed a method to grow dodecagonal quasicrystals — structures with 12-fold symmetry — by manipulating tiny particles with magnetic and electric fields. For the first time, they could watch the entire quasicrystal assembly process happen live under an optical microscope.
The breakthrough came through their work on the Advanced Colloids Experiment with Temperature Control (ACE-T9). With this development, researchers on Earth could essentially turn a dial to control how fast intricate quasicrystal patterns formed. Instead of relying on luck or chance discoveries, they now have a systematic way to guide particles into these complex, non-repeating arrangements. This could offer a new blueprint for creating advanced materials with quasicrystals.
What makes this breakthrough particularly exciting is the level of control the team achieved. Previous quasicrystal discoveries were largely accidental, but now scientists have a systematic approach to creating and studying these materials. That shift from chance discoveries to deliberate creation could be what brings quasicrystal applications from the laboratory into everyday use.
Professor Marr’s research earned a featured spot on the cover of the scientific journal Nature Physics.
The Real-World Potential of "Impossible" Patterns
Quasicrystals could potentially solve some serious engineering challenges. In space, materials that can self-assemble might reduce the need for complex construction projects on satellites or habitats. The unique way quasicrystals interact with light could also lead to revolutionary sensor technologies for space exploration missions.
Earth-based applications are equally promising. Researchers believe controlled quasicrystal formation might enable ultra-efficient solar cells, advanced optical devices, or breakthrough manufacturing techniques. The aerospace industry could see benefits from stronger, lighter materials, while other sectors might develop improved materials for robotics or filtration systems.
Related Resources:
Materials Science at NASA’s Division of Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS)
Biological and Physical Sciences Data
NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division pioneers scientific discovery and enables exploration by using space environments to conduct investigations not possible on Earth. Studying biological and physical phenomenon under extreme conditions allows researchers to advance the fundamental scientific knowledge required to go farther and stay longer in space, while also benefitting life on Earth.