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Crystal Physics and Engineering Lab
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A lab that studies the structure and properties of quasicrystals, curious solids that have no periodicity.
AboutAbout the lab
Unraveling quasicrystals, crystals without periodicity.
The Crystal Physics and Engineering Lab studies the structure and properties of solids called quasicrystals.
Quasicrystals are materials in which atoms are arranged in an orderly way despite having no periodicity, and they were discovered in 1984.
They exhibit five-fold and ten-fold rotational symmetries, which are forbidden in ordinary crystals, and are also related to the golden ratio and fractals.
Using diffraction to determine how atoms are arranged, the lab clarifies how quasicrystals differ in properties from periodic crystals and amorphous solids.
Key terms
- Quasicrystal
- A material in which atoms are arranged in an orderly way even though it has no periodicity
- Diffraction
- A method of determining the arrangement of atoms from the pattern in which X-rays or electron beams scatter after striking a material
- Fractal
- A self-similar structure in which a magnified part resembles the whole
ResearchResearch themes
Quasicrystals are materials in which atoms are arranged in an orderly way without periodicity, and they have been found not only in metallic systems but also in polymer and ceramic systems. Focusing mainly on alloy quasicrystals, the lab investigates what their atomic arrangements are like and how their properties differ from those of periodic crystals and amorphous solids.
*Illustrative imageStructure of Quasicrystals
Even now that many quasicrystals have been found, quite a few of them still have unknown atomic arrangements. The lab was the first in the world to determine the structure of the binary Yb-Cd icosahedral quasicrystal, and is developing higher-dimensional crystallography to determine unknown structures.
*Illustrative imageProperties of Quasicrystals
When atoms are arranged quasiperiodically, unusual properties such as quantum critical phenomena emerge. The lab investigates the transition between metallic and covalent bonding that makes the AlCuFe icosahedral quasicrystal, composed of common metallic elements, hard and brittle, as well as electronic states on quasiperiodic structures.
MembersFaculty
Members of the Crystal Physics and Engineering Lab are faculty members and master's and undergraduate students.As of 2025
- Associate ProfessorHiroyuki Takakura
- Assistant ProfessorShiro Kashimoto
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Ho-Mg-ZnQuasicrystal” AMES lab., US Department of Energy / Public domain (cropped)
- Structure of Quasicrystals: “Zn-Mg-HoDiffraction” Materialscientist / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Properties of Quasicrystals: “Quasicrystal1” J.W. Evans, The Ames Laboratory, US Department of Energy / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Mathematical Physics Engineering Lab): “Meissner effect p1390048” Mai-Linh Doan / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Condensed Matter Physics Engineering Lab): “CdTe quantum dots” Ruslan.Ka / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Structural Inorganic Chemistry Lab): “Cobaltate cristallographic structure” Julien Bobroff (user:Jubobroff) LPS, Orsay, France / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Superfluid Physics Lab): “Helium-glow” Jurii / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
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