Scientists at NYU have discovered a way to use light as a kind of remote control for building and reshaping crystals.
Researchers at NYU have developed a way to use light to precisely direct how microscopic particles assemble into crystals. The findings describe a straightforward and reversible approach to crystal formation that could help create a new class of adaptable, light-responsive materials.
Crystals, from snowflakes and diamonds to the silicon chips inside electronic devices, consist of particles arranged in highly ordered, repeating structures. To better understand how these patterns emerge, scientists often study colloidal particles, which are tiny spheres suspended in liquid that can spontaneously organize into what are known as colloidal crystals. These particles are also essential components in advanced materials used in optical and photonic technologies such as sensors and lasers.
Even though crystals are common and widely used, controlling exactly when and where they form has been a persistent challenge.
“The challenge in the field has been control: crystals usually form where and when they want, and once conditions are set, you have limited ability to adjust the process in real time,” said study author Stefano Sacanna, professor of chemistry at NYU.
Using Light as a Microscale Remote Control
“Essentially, we used light as a remote control to program how matter organizes itself at the microscale,” said Sacanna.
Through a combination of laboratory experiments and computer simulations, the team demonstrated that adjusting the intensity, timing, and pattern of light allows them to control crystal behavior with remarkable precision. They can trigger crystals to appear or dissolve on demand, choose where crystallization occurs, reshape and “sculpt” crystal structures, and improve their uniformity and size to build larger and more intricate colloidal assemblies.
“Using our photoacid gave us a surprising level of control over the attraction between particles. Just turning the light up or down a little made the difference between the particle fully sticking or being fully free,” said study author Steven van Kesteren of ETH Zürich, who conducted this work at NYU as a postdoctoral researcher in Sacanna’s lab.
“Because light is so easy to control, we could make our system do quite complex things. We could shoot light at particle blobs and see them melt under the microscope, or shine a light so that random blobs of particles ordered themselves into crystals. We could also remove specific crystals quite easily by simply unsticking the particles at that spot,” added van Kesteren.
One Pot Experiment With Reversible Control
A key advantage of the approach is its simplicity. The researchers were able to manage the entire process in a “one pot” setup, without repeatedly redesigning particles or adjusting salt concentrations in the solution. By changing the level of illumination, they could prompt the particles to assemble into crystals or fall apart again.
Toward Light Programmable Materials
This technique could pave the way for materials whose structure, and therefore their properties, can be adjusted using light. For example, photonic materials could have their color or optical response written, erased, and rewritten as needed. Light programmable colloidal crystals may one day enable reconfigurable optical coatings, adaptive sensors, and next-generation display or data storage technologies, where patterns and functions are defined dynamically by illumination rather than fixed during manufacturing.
“Our approach brings us closer to dynamic, programmable colloidal materials that can be reconfigured on demand,” said study author Glen Hocky, associate professor of chemistry and a faculty member at the Simons Center for Computational Physical Chemistry at NYU. “This system also allows us to test a number of predictions on how self-assembly should behave when interactions between particles or molecules are changing across space or time.”
#worldresearchawards #Analyticalchemistry #research #QuantumDots #RabiOscillations #MollowSplitting #QuantumOptics #Nanophotonics #SemiconductorPhysics #ExternalFields #CoherentDynamics #QuantumMechanics #NanoscaleSystems #LightMatterInteraction #QuantumDevices #CondensedMatterPhysics #Spectroscopy #AdvancedMaterials #QuantumEngineering
For More Details ==============
🌎 Visit Our Website : analyticalchemistry.org
✉️Contact Us: mail@analyticalchemistry.org
Get Connected Here: ==================
Twitter : x.com/ChemistryAwards
Facebook : www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566931868357
Pinterest : in.pinterest.com/analyticalchemistry25
Blog : analyticalchemistryawards.blogspot.com
Tumblr : www.tumblr.com/blog/analyticalchemistryawards
Instagram : www.instagram.com/analyticalchemistryawards
No comments:
Post a Comment