Krystallines

Krystallines is a term used to describe crystalline materials or objects that exhibit a highly ordered arrangement of their constituent atoms, ions, or molecules. While the word is not restricted to a single scientific subfield, it commonly appears in mineralogy, solid-state chemistry, and materials science to refer to substances with a crystalline lattice.

The defining feature of krystallines is long-range order, organized in a repeating unit called a unit cell. This order gives rise to anisotropic properties, meaning characteristics such as hardness, refractive index, and thermal conductivity can vary with direction. Crystalline materials include naturally occurring minerals as well as synthetic crystals grown in laboratories.

Crystals form by the aggregation of constituents as they transition from melt, solution, or vapor to a solid phase. Growth methods include slow cooling of melts, solvent- or solution-growth techniques, and vapor deposition. Controlling nucleation and growth conditions yields crystals with varying sizes and defect densities.

Krystallines have wide-ranging applications: in electronics (silicon and gallium arsenide wafers), optics (calcite, quartz), and pharmaceuticals (polymorphic crystalline forms affecting solubility and stability). In research, crystallography and diffraction techniques are used to determine their structures.

See also: Crystallography, Crystal system, Lattice, Polymorph, Phase transition.