Crystal polymorphism is critically important in the fields of pharmaceuticals and materials science. For instance, a metastable polymorph of an active pharmaceutical ingredient may benefit from ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. — University at Buffalo chemist Jason Benedict and his team spent years developing photoswitchable crystals. Every crystal’s shape is a mirror of the internal arrangement of their ...

Every crystal's shape is a mirror of the internal arrangement of its molecules, but the molecules in photoswitchable crystals can expand, twist and change properties—from their color to their ...

When scientists study how materials behave under extreme conditions, they typically examine what happens under compression. But what occurs when you pull matter apart in all directions simultaneously?

Most solid materials we rely on, from steel, to plastics and ceramics, are designed to have specific properties. Whether a material is soft and flexible, or stiff and tough depends on how molecules ...

Here is why gallium nitride (GaN) is the natural successor to silicon MOSFETs in the 100–650 V class of power devices.

An international team of scientists used an X-ray laser at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to determine the structure of an insect virus's crystalline protein "cocoon." ...

Metalworkers and metallurgists have long appreciated the ability to tailor the performance characteristics of steel (an alloy of iron and carbon), including their strength, hardness, ductility and ...

A team of physicists has computationally constructed a two-dimensional material that behaves like a paradox: it is disordered ...

Most space missions rely on chemical rockets for propulsion. Rockets must carry fuel, which increases spacecraft mass and ...