A crystal is a solid with a periodic atomic structure and a deviation from the periodicity of the crystal lattice is called a defect. Crystalline defects include point defects (e.g. colour centres) ...

Defect-filled lead-halide perovskites rival silicon solar cells because domain walls inside the material separate and guide charges. Researchers visualized these charge-transport networks using a ...

Inside most of the Earth, olivine is a hot mineral whose creepy behavior drives plate tectonics. In the upper mantle — the top of the planetary layer between the crust and core — olivine's unusual ...

Half-Heusler Ni-based alloys are thermoelectric materials with the potential for converting waste heat into electricity. However, the origin of their impressive conversion efficiency is not entirely ...

Researchers have discovered that engineering one-dimensional line defects into certain materials can increase their electrical performance. Materials engineers don't like to see line defects in ...

Researchers show that Cartan's First Structure Equation links crystal defects to the same mathematical rules governing electric currents and magnetic fields. (Nanowerk News) A fundamental goal of ...

Crystalline defects—ranging from vacancies and interstitials to dislocations and grain boundaries—play a critical role in determining the physical properties of materials. This Collection focuses on ...

MADISON – Scientists have no problem making a menagerie of nanometer-sized objects -- wires, tubes, belts, and even tree-like structures. What they sometimes have been unable to do is explain ...

Insights into atomic-scale defects may enable next-generation thin-film transistors for smartphones, televisions, and flexible electronics. (Nanowerk News) Many displays found in smartphones and ...

If we are to prevent the impending environmental crisis, it is imperative that we find efficient and sustainable ways to avoid being wasteful. One area with much room for improvement is the recycling ...