Stronger Nuclear Fusion Materials May Be Possible Thanks to Photos of a Tiny Aluminum CrystalA laser
Stronger Nuclear Fusion Materials May Be Possible Thanks to Photos of a Tiny Aluminum Crystal
A laser compressing an aluminum crystal provides a clearer view of a material’s plastic deformation, potentially leading to the design of stronger nuclear fusion materials and spacecraft shields.
Imagine dropping a tennis ball onto a bedroom mattress. The tennis ball will bend the mattress a bit, but not permanently – pick the ball back up, and the mattress returns to its original position and strength. Scientists call this an elastic state.
On the other hand, if you drop something heavy – like a refrigerator – the force pushes the mattress into what scientists call a plastic state. The plastic state, in this sense, is not the same as the plastic milk jug in your refrigerator, but rather a permanent rearrangement of the atomic structure of a material. When you remove the refrigerator, the mattress will be compressed and, well, uncomfortable, to say the least.
But a material’s elastic-plastic shift concerns more than mattress comfort. Understanding what happens to a material at the atomic level when it transitions from elastic to plastic under high pressures could allow scientists to design stronger materials for spacecraft and nuclear fusion experiments.
