Credit: Shihao Zang, NYU
New York University researchers have created a novel method to visualize and create dynamic three-dimensional models of crystals. The robust visualizations will provide future researchers with an unprecedented understanding of crystal structures and could lead to the design of better crystal and photonic materials.
In the study, published in Nature Materials, the team developed a confocal microscopy method called "Crystal Clear" to build three-dimensional models of colloidal crystal structures. To achieve this the team developed transparent colloidal particles that contained fluorescently labeled molecules to distinguish them under a microscope. These labeled molecules, combined with confocal microscopy data, reveal each two-dimensional plane of a colloidal crystal which can be stacked on top of each other to build a three-dimensional model.
"This is a powerful platform for studying crystals," says Stefano Sacanna, professor of chemistry at NYU. "Previously, if you looked at a colloidal crystal through a microscope, you could only get a sense of its shape and structure of the surface. But we can now see inside and know the position of every unit in the structure."
To validate the method the team compared their data to data generated by computer simulations used to create the same crystals with the same characteristics. In doing so the team demonstrated the accuracy of their method for both static and dynamic crystals.
"Being able to see inside crystals gives us greater insight into how the crystallization process works and can perhaps help us to optimize the process of growing crystals by design," said Sacanna.