EU-funded researchers investigated novel nano-crystalline structures for potential use in a variety of laser and imaging devices related to biology, medicine and defence. Most people are familiar with a simple prism that separates visible light into its individual colour components corresponding to specific wavelengths and frequencies. The impending light sort of ‘fans out’ to show the individual components by the dispersion properties of the glass. Crystals are another type of structure with interesting properties with respect to impending light. In fact, crystal chemistry is a branch of chemistry that describes the structures and functions of various crystalline structures and glass.
