HOLLYWOOD producers eat your hearts out. Scientists in Japan have made the first movies of ripples racing over the surfaces of crystals. They say the wave patterns could help researchers determine the structure and purity of crystal lattices simply by looking at them.
Crystal lattices consist of atoms linked by chemical bonds that can oscillate like springs. This allows vibrational waves known as phonons to pass through the structure. In an ideal crystal with no impurities or structural faults, the atomic-scale waves travel in a way that is straightforward to predict. However, impurities such as unwanted atoms inthe lattice can…
