02/21/2025
Mystery solved: Symmetry of exotic crystals
Crystals are highly symmetrical, but quasicrystals lack important symmetry properties. These solids pose puzzles for physics. A research team from the Technion in Haifa, the University of Duisburg-Essen and the University of Stuttgart has now solved one of them. They discovered that the symmetry is hidden in a higher spatial dimension.
While investigating collective electron oscillations (plasmons) on gold surfaces, the scientists discovered a quasi-crystalline pattern. Inspired by previous plasmon experiments, they searched for the missing symmetry - and found it in four-dimensional space.
This required time-resolved microscopy experiments on a millionth of a billionth of a second scale - a specialty of the team led by CENIDE member Prof. Frank Meyer zu Heringdorf from UDE's Department of Physics. The international research group has now published the results in the renowned journal Science.
Source: University of Duisburg-Essen