The ability to simulate and control how defects or variations are distributed at these interfaces could be useful for a range of applications. The patterning can cause helium bubbles in materials used on the interior walls of fusion power reactors to form channels instead of weakening the material. The same principle can apply to controlling how phonons move through a crystalline structure, which could be important for the production of thermoelectric devices and could help improve the efficiency of lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells.
“The mechanical properties of materials also depend on the internal structure, so you can make them strong or weak by [controlling these interfaces],” Demkowicz says.
