Anything made out of plastic or glass is known as an amorphous material. Unlike many materials that freeze into crystalline solids, the atoms and molecules in amorphous materials never stack together ...

Glassy state: a new field theory describes amorphous materials such as glass beads. (Courtesy: iStock/schmidt-z) Many common materials such as glass, compacted sand and toothpaste have a solid’s ...

In a crystalline solid, the atoms form an ordered lattice. Crystalline solids respond elastically to small deformations: When the applied strain is removed, the macroscopic stress, as well as the ...

Groups of atoms or molecules arranged in different ways can be approximated by a single squishy bead with some effective stiffness. Tokyo, Japan – Scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University have ...

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune and CSIR-NCL (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – National Chemical Laboratory) Pune have shown that the ...

Material engineers and scientists have long wanted to understand the atomic structures of amorphous solids such as glass, rubber and plastics more fully. Unlike the structures of crystalline materials ...

Researchers have developed a new method for understanding the structure organization of disordered materials fundamentally different from previous geometric approaches of ordered crystals. This ...

Researchers explain the distinctive low-temperature thermal properties of glasses using molecular dynamics simulations. By focusing on string-like defects, they were able to create a unified ...

AZoNano speaks to Dr. John Miao about his involvement in the breakthrough research that could rewrite our understanding of how substances are formed at an atomic level. Using an innovative atomic ...

The low-frequency vibrational and low-temperature thermal properties of amorphous solids are markedly different from those of crystalline solids. This situation is counterintuitive because all solid ...