Quasicrystal from first nuclear detonation

Researchers report a unique quasicrystal discovered in the remnants of the first nuclear bomb detonation. The atoms of quasicrystals are arranged in patterns that violate the symmetry rules of ordinary, or periodic, crystals. Quasicrystals have been discovered in meteorite samples and synthesized in laboratories. Luca Bindi, Paul J. Steinhardt, and colleagues identified a previously unknown icosahedral quasicrystal in a sample of red trinitite formed during the Trinity test, the first detonation of a nuclear bomb on July 16, 1945, at the Alamogordo Bombing Range in New Mexico. The trinitite was created when the detonation fused sand with copper wiring from recording equipment. The authors used back-scattered scanning electron microscopy to identify metallic blob candidates within the sample. Next, the authors isolated the blobs for electron microprobe and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis to determine their atomic compositions and structures. The analysis revealed a quasicrystal with fivefold, threefold, and twofold symmetries--a pattern violating the symmetry rules of periodic crystals. According to the authors, the historic event that created this quasicrystal makes it the oldest known extant anthropogenic quasicrystal, and its discovery suggests that other quasicrystals may form under similar thermodynamic conditions, such as lightning strikes, meteor impacts, or other nuclear detonations.

Article #2021-01350: "Accidental synthesis of a previously unknown quasicrystal in the first atomic bomb test," by Luca Bindi, Paul J. Steinhardt, et al.

MEDIA CONTACT: Luca Bindi, University of Florence, Italy; tel: +39 055 2757532, +39 333 8568238; email: <luca.bindi@unifi.it>; Paul J. Steinhardt, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; tel: 609-258-1509; email: steinh@princeton.edu

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