Many solid materials "remember" their past. A piece of metal may respond differently after being stretched, heated, or cooled, and memory materials rely precisely on this kind of history-dependent ...

In a crystalline solid, the atoms form an ordered lattice. Crystalline solids respond elastically to small deformations: When the applied strain is removed, the macroscopic stress, as well as the ...

For a long time, it was thought that amorphous solids do not selectively absorb light because of their disordered atomic structure. A new study disproves this theory and shows that amorphous solids ...

Phonons are sound particles or quantized vibrations of atoms in solid materials. The Debye model, a theory introduced by physicist Peter Debye in 1912, describes the contribution of phonons to the ...

Substances can exist in three states of matter - solid, liquid and gas. All substances are made from particles, and the forces between the particles are different in solids, liquids and gases. The ...

Everything around you - and even your body - is made up of the three phases of matter. Let's find out more. The whole world and everything we can see around us is made up of matter. Matter can be ...

Photovoltaic devices generate electricity directly from solar radiation, which is abundant and freely accessible, offering the potential for renewable power on a vast scale. Worldwide photovoltaic ...