Quantcast
issue
Read articles, including Science News stories written for ages 9-14, on the SNK website.
Crystal purity

Researchers in Paris have grown solid helium crystals in a transparent torsional oscillator. In the top series, a single pure crystal grows slowly at a temperature of about 25 millikelvins. Below, a highly disordered polycrystal grows quickly, at 600 millikelvins. By watching these crystals develop, scientists hope to tease our whether supersolidity occurs in pure helium or whether defects must be present for the solid to start flowing. Credit: X. Rojas, A. Haziot, J. West, M. Chan, S. Balibar/ENS Paris

Follow Us
blogs & columns
multimedia
Not to miss
bookshelf