The calcitic prismatic units forming the outer shell of the bivalve Pinctada margaritifera have been analysed using scanning electron microscopy-electron back-scatter diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. In the initial stages of growth, the individual prismatic units are single crystals. Their crystalline orientation is not consistent but rather changes gra...

In situ studies have been performed on thin films in the Al rich region of the Al–Cu–Fe–Cr quasicrystalline phase field. Thin films were grown by magnetron sputtering on atomically flat MgO (0 0 1) and Al O (0 0 0 1) and subsequently studied by 2 3 transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. High resolution electron microscopy shows that thin films (-30 nm) grown at r...

This study demonstrates that precise control of nonequilibrium growth conditions during pulsed laser deposition (PLD) can be exploited to produce single-crystalline anatase TiO2 nanobrush architectures with large surface areas terminated with high energy {001} facets. The data indicate that the key to nanobrush formation is controlling the atomic surface transport processes to balance defect ag...

The III-V compound semiconductors exhibit superb electronic and optoelectronic properties. Traditionally, closely lattice-matched epitaxial substrates have been required for the growth of high-quality single-crystal III-V thin films and patterned microstructures. To remove this materials constraint, here we introduce a growth mode that enables direct writing of single-crystalline III-V's on amo...

In this work we report the influence of the crystallization stage of the host matrix on the spectroscopic properties of Nd3+ ions in biocompatible glass-ceramic eutectic rods of composition 0.8CaSiO3-0.2Ca3(PO4)2 doped with 1 and 2 wt% of Nd2O3. The samples were obtained by the laser floating zone technique at different growth rates between 50 and 500 mm/h. The microstructural analysis shows th...

Highly crystalline b-Ga2O3 nanowires with two morphologies have been synthesized through physical evaporation of Te doped GaAs powder in Ar atmosphere. Growth is not based on VLS mechanism due to absence of Te. S in place of Te resulted in similar nanostructures. Some of the nanowires exhibit herringbone morphology with presence of hexagonal crystallites in regular spacing along the nanowire ax...

We report on the deposition of crystalline single-helix carbon microcoils, in the as-deposited state, by the hot-wire chemical vapor deposition process without any special preparation of nano-sized transition metal catalysts and subsequent post-deposition annealing. Tungsten, originating from the heated tungsten filament, is identified as the catalyst material responsible for the growth of the ...

ZnO columnar single crystals were formed by pulsed laser ablation in deionized water and surfactant aqueous solutions of lauryl dimethylaminoacetic acid (LDA) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) at 80 degrees C. ZnO particles produced by laser ablation were dissolved at a higher temperature than 60 degrees C, and then crystalline growth to columnar structure proceeded. While large ZnO col...

RNA sequences have been discovered that mediate the growth of hexagonal palladium nanoparticles. In vitro selection techniques were used to evolve an initial library of approximately 10(14) unique RNA sequences through eight cycles of selection to yield several active sequence families. Of the five families, all representative members could form crystalline hexagonal palladium platelets. The pa...