In a process analogous to how solids melt into liquids, the electrons in many different metals form crystal-like patterns ...

Crystals -- from sugar and table salt to snowflakes and diamonds -- don't always grow in a straightforward way. Researchers have now captured this journey from amorphous blob to orderly structures. In ...

XRD works by directing X-rays onto a crystalline material and analyzing the angles and intensities of the diffracted beams. The atomic planes within the crystal act as a three-dimensional grating, ...