Nobel win for crystal discovery
Baku, October 5 (AZERTAC). The Nobel prize for chemistry has gone to a single researcher for his discovery of the structure of quasicrystals.
The new structural form was previously thought to be impossible and provoked controversy.
Dr Shechtman, from the Israel Institute of Technology, will receive the entire 10m Swedish krona (£940,000) prize.
The Nobel Prize in chemistry caps this year`s science awards.
Dr Shechtman first created quasicrystals by rapidly cooling molten metals, such as aluminum and manganese, by squirting the mixture onto a cool surface.
Under the microscope he obsevered that the new crystal was made up of perfectly ordered, but never repeating, units - a structure that is at odds with all other crystals that are regular and precisely repeating.
Professor David Phillips, president of the Royal Society of Chemistry, called quasicrystals "quite beautiful".
He added: "Quasicrystals are a fascinating aspect of chemical and material science - crystals that break all the rules of being a crystal at all."
The Nobel prizes have been given out annually since 1901, covering the fields of medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace.
Monday`s award of the 2011 prize for physiology or medicine went to Bruce Beutler of the US, Jules Hoffmann from France and Ralph Steinman from Canada for their work on immunology.
And Tuesday`s award for physics went to Saul Perlmutter and Adam Riess of the US and Brian Schmidt of Australia who will divide the prize for their discovery that our Universe`s expansion is accelerating.
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