To strengthen alloys, metallurgists often tweak the size and orientation of microscopic crystal grains within the material. Now researchers have applied the same principles at a much larger scale to ...

The pattern of arrangement of atoms in a crystal, called the crystal lattice, can have a huge effect on the properties of solid materials. Controlling and harnessing these properties is a challenge ...

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 ...