What do phasons look like?
Wednesday, June 6, 2012 - 11:01
in Physics & Chemistry
(Phys.org) -- When illuminated by laser light, assorted colloidal particles can arrange themselves into highly ordered structures called quasicrystals. By changing the phases of the lasers, researchers can force the colloids to further rearrange themselves in different ways. These collective rearrangements occur due to phasons, one of the many unique properties of quasicrystals.