Many biological structures of impressive beauty and sophistication arise through processes of self-assembly. Indeed, the natural world is teeming with intricate and useful forms that come together from many constituent parts, taking advantage of the built-in features of molecules. Scientists hope to gain a better understanding of how this process unfolds and how such bottom-up construction can be used to advance technologies in computer science, , medical diagnostics and other areas.
In new research, Arizona State University Assistant Professor Petr Sulc and his colleagues have taken a step closer to replicating nature's processes of self-assembly. Their study describes the synthetic construction of a tiny, self-assembled crystal known as a "pyrochlore," which bears unique optical properties. The key to creating the crystal is the development of a new simulation method that can predict and guide the self-assembly process, avoiding unwanted structures and ensuring the molecules come together in just the right arrangement.
The advance provides a steppingstone to the eventual construction of sophisticated, self-assembling devices at the nanoscale—roughly the size of a single virus. The new methods were used to engineer the pyrochlore nanocrystal, a special type of lattice that could eventually function as an optical metamaterial, "a special type of material that only transmits certain wavelengths of light," Sulc says. "Such materials can then be used to produce so-called optic.
