Fluctuating crystal structure at constant temperature

[Astronuc]

European scientists used synchrotron X-ray microbeams to observe how the microscopic structure of a crystalline material fluctuates in time even when the temperature remains constant. The study shows in microscopic detail how a metal alloy, composed of iron and aluminum, changes when heated. In contrast to conventional wisdom, the researchers discovered that one class of interference peaks associated with the low-temperature structure disappears, while another class of peaks belonging to the new structure emerge at the same temperature. This gives clearcut evidence that temporal structural fluctuations on an atomic scale are present in the crystal and could lead to new insights in the field of condensed matter science.

from the Alchemist Newsletter from Chemweb.com

Full story at Living metals by the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF).

Using Synchrotron X-ray microbeams, a research team from the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research in Stuttgart and the ESRF has been able to observe for the first time that the microscopic structure of a crystalline material fluctuates in time. The results were just published in Science Express with the title: Scaling in the Time Domain: Universal Dynamics of Order Fluctuations in Fe₃Al.

 

[inha]

Interesting. I've got to check out the full article. If it has been out on science express on april 21st shouldn't it be on this or next paper issue?

 

[Modey3]

Good article. Was the phase transition a order-disorder transition of the intermetallic. I'm thinking it is because of how the X-ray instensity peaks change.

Modey3