The X-ray beam breaks through the stained glass window, illuminating a solution of crystalline chalcogenide in powder form. Credits: Ella Maru Studios
Crystals can reveal the hidden shape of molecules with just one look. The scientists use them to figure out new materials’ atomic structures, but many crystals are too small or delicate for this task; now an international team reports having found a technique that lets anyone see any crystal’s architecture – even if they’re mostly made up from atoms!
Conventional wisdom says that we need to know the periodic table of elements for chemistry class. But what about those molecules with too many atoms? Diamond, gold, and other heavy minerals are made up of one type or another: carbon ( diamond), oxygen (“steel”) — all compounds which can be difficult enough without adding more complexity!
Metal-organic chacogenolates or MOCs for short are a group of rare pigments that can be found in nature. They have many different properties depending on which metal they’re made from and how much sulfur, selenium, or tellurium is mixed into their structure to give them additional reactive abilities when exposed to light but also make excellent solid lubricants without burning out at high temperatures inside oil refineries & mines!
Hohmann’s group has been studying a family of extremely complex chemicals called chalcogenolate. These compounds are difficult to crystallize due to their size and complexity, but Hohomann’s work is crucial because they play an important role in our understanding of how DNA functions as well!
The standard way to understand the atomic arrangement of more complex materials is through X-ray crystallography. One well known early example was how Rosalind Franklin used it in understanding DNA’s structure, which she separated into large pieces and illuminated with X-rays – so small that they diffracted space between atoms just like visible light does when visiting a metal slot; thusly revealing its spacing (or slots).
The atomic structure of a material can be used to create specific, custom-designed items for doing amazing things. For example, if you have an element that bends light coolly under UV rays but not visible light then knowing the correct compositions could allow us to make our version with similar elements sized differently at certain locations which would result in cloaked objects being able to appear invisible when inspected by people using other standards such as IR or Radio waves!
Hybrid chalcogenolate, the compound Hohmann is studying in his new chemistry lab at UC Riverside has created excellent catalysts and semiconductors. He currently deals with silver-based ones that glow bright blue when exposed to UV light or whenever there are graduate students around for fun!
Hohmann was convinced by Ellis Schreiber, a graduate student in his lab who argued for using an X-ray beam to illuminate some of the small messy hybrids halogenates. If they can just figure out how these compounds are structured then everything will make sense!
When Schreiber met Berkeley researcher Aaron Brewster, they found that their similar field interests led to an exchange of ideas. In particular, he needed something difficult for testing his new mathematical theory on crystal structures which is where Hohmann and himself came in as the perfect fit- thanks largely because both men work with X-ray resonant techniques at SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS).
When the chalcogenolate crystal is fired at by an accelerator beam, it glows with incredible brightness, and rays are released which allow Brewster to capture snapshots of its atomic structure. With enough data points collected this way, he was able to perform diffraction calculations on how atoms were arranged in different positions within each lattice unit cell (a very tiny portion).
In less than a year, they solved the crystal structures and understood the previous best guesses about what those were wrong. Theoretically, SMFX could be used for any chemical or material with small molecules by using femtosecond lasers!
smSFX is a new technique that allows scientists to better understand the inner workings of crystals. It creates an accurate enough map for individual particles, rather than diffracting together all jumbled up crystals as with existing powder diffraction methods; this way we can see clear images and data about where each piece belongs within its environment! When Paley first started using the technique he said it gave an interesting sharpening effect, but now there are 10 thousand shots in the sequence which makes for a much smoother video without having to do all one million at once.
“With this discovery, we have gained incredible insight into the dynamic processes happening on an ultrafast timescale. These findings could potentially revolutionize our understanding of materials and their behavior.”
Hohmann says that now they can solve these structures which are difficult to crystallize, so their research team will be able to design the optimal structure for whatever purposes. Sometimes materials approach having certain desirable properties but lack perfect crystallinity or have improper configurations in some aspects of its makeup.”
Hohmann and Brewster are working together with MIT’s machine learning specialist, Tess Smit to teach computers the design skills needed for creating materials with specific properties.
This work included the use of some very expensive equipment like SACLA’s free-electron laser in Japan, Linac Coherent light source at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (a lab run by Stanford University), and Molecular Foundry located deep within the US Department Of Energy Sciences. All these centers were crucial for researching different areas such as materials science or radiotherapy but most importantly they provided us with data that helped make our discoveries!
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