SCIENCE / MEDICINE : Bell Labs Confirm Quasi-Crystal

Scientists peering at atomic structures through a super-powerful microscope have taken the first clear look at the quasi-crystal. AT&T;’s Bell Laboratories said last week their research shows that quasi-crystals have an arrangement of atoms with multi-faceted symmetry, which many scientists doubted could happen.

Scientists said X-rays and other techniques had pretty much proven the existence of quasi-crystals, but Bell Labs’ research showed them with unmatched clarity.

Bell Labs provided the first surface glimpse of a quasi-crystal, helping refute arguments that previous manifestations were a quirk of nature, said Lionel Kimmerling, director of Bell Labs’ materials interface research department in Murray Hill.

Bell Labs used a scanning-tunneling microscope, which is exact enough to probe individual atoms. Researchers cut atoms on a plane and used the microscope to sweep a fine-tipped probe over the surface. The image of each atom was then projected on a TV screen.