US and Italy scientists reported the opening of the previously unknown Ikosahedral quasicrystal Si61CU30CA7FE2 formed at the site of the explosion of the first nuclear device “Trinity” in Alamogordo, New Mexico. The “impossible” structure was formed from iron, silicon, copper and calcium, which were previously part of the sand and cables. This is reported in the article published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Quasicrystals violate the rules of crystallographic symmetry applicable to crystals with a regular structure. The new sample was found in the sample of red trinitite – glass, fused from sand and copper from power lines used for nuclear testing. At the moment, IkosaDritis Si61CU30CA7FE2 is the oldest of known anthropogenic quasicrystals. The conditions under which the crystal has formed, comparable to those characteristic of the thermodynamics of the impact of the meteorite about the earth’s surface, when natural quasicrystals are formed.
for quasicrystals is characteristic, for example, pentagonal symmetry, when the structure remains unchanged when rotating 20 degrees. For the first time, such a structure was discovered in 1982 by Daniel Shechtman (Daniel Shechtman) from the Israeli Institute of Technology Technology. The quasicrystal was formed by Ikosahedra having 20 faces. Since mathematically, the space cannot be filled with Ikosahedra, the conclusions of Shehtman initially met skepticism from many researchers, but in 2011 the scientist received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the opening of quasicrystals.
In the new work, Paul Steinhardt, Paul Steinhardt, from Princeton University and his colleagues analyzed samples of red trinitite – substances that received with copper atoms into the usual green trinititis. Quasicrystals are usually formed from elements that can be combined only in extreme conditions. The identified sample SI61CU30CA7FE2 had the same symmetry as Ikosahedrite Shekhtman.
According to experts, quasicrystals can serve as markers of hidden nuclear tests. They may also be present in the materials formed when the lightning strike in the sand (Fuligurite) and other sedimentary breeds.