The wolf in this fluorescence microscope image is a crystal, and it grew this way on its own. Prodipta Samadder, a PhD researcher at the Institute of Nano Science and Technology, works on organic boron compounds. When those compounds form crystals, their ordered molecular structures trap and reemit light, producing the orange-red glow that outlines every facet of the wolf visible here. Samadder didn’t design the shape. Rather, as solvent evaporated during crystal growth, molecules stacked faster along certain directions than others, producing facets that just outward to suggest a snout, ears, and an open jaw. The tendency for molecules to stack faster along certain directions also determines how light moves through the structure: rather than scattering, light gets confined and carried along the crystal’s length. Crystals that channel light that way have potential uses in sensing, security inks for anti-counterfeiting, and devices that process information as light pulses.
Submitted by Prodipta Samadder
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