Chiral diffraction from aperiodic monotile structure.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 42527405.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-75023-7 and PMC identifier 13421593.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC-ND.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
Aperiodic systems, such as quasiperiodic structures, exhibit properties distinct from those of periodic structures. In 2023, Smith et al. discovered an aperiodic structure based on a single tile shape that can tessellate the plane only aperiodically, known as an aperiodic monotile. Here, by using this monotile tiling, we propose a quasiperiodic structure which possesses perfect threefold rotational (C<sub>3</sub>) symmetry but lacks mirror symmetry. Diffraction experiments reveal quasicrystalline properties of the proposed aperiodic structure through observation of clear Bragg peaks and independence of illumination position. Furthermore, we observe chiral properties including pinwheel-like diffraction patterns and unconventional circular-polarization-dependent behavior, which is absent in conventional quasiperiodic structures with mirror symmetry. These findings establish chiral quasiperiodic structures as a platform for studying aperiodic systems beyond traditional quasicrystals, broadening the study of nonperiodic structures.