Covers Arts

Front Cover: Nature Reviews Materials Vol. 9 No. 4

Featuring: “Non-Classical Crystallization in Soft and Organic Materials.” DOI:10.1038/s41578-023-00637-y

Crystallization of soft materials often follows pathways not envisioned in classical theories of crystallization, instead passing through disordered, amorphous, or dense liquid precursors. The recent emergence of techniques to probe these pathways with minimal damage has led to a growing knowledge about these pathways. The image illustrates crystallization via a dense liquid precursor as the free energy of the system decreases, as well as the in-situ observation of this process. Designed with Cortland Johnson.

© 2024 Springer Nature

Front Cover: ACS Nano Vol. 16 No. 12

Featuring: “Intermetallic Nanocrystal Discovery Through Modulation of Atom Stacking Hierarchy.” DOI:10.1021/acsnano.2c08038

An intermetallic Au₃Cu nanoprism exhibits exotic electron diffraction patterns that reflect multiple levels of atom stacking hierarchy (false-color coded). A particle library synthesized from location-specific polymer nanoreactor arrays was generated and studied by correlative electron microscopy to discover new nanocrystal structures like this.

© 2022 American Chemical Society

Front Cover: Astronomical Research & Technology Vol. 10 No. 2

Featuring: “A Design of a Remote-Control Telescope System for High-School Students.” DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1672-7673.2013.02.014

An example of astrophotography of M27 (a planetary nebula in Vulpecula, also known as the Dumbbell Nebula) captured by the remote telescope system we implemented in Aksu City, China. Three channels obtained through Sloan g’, r’ and i’ filters were mixed with a white-light image. Designed with Shenming Fu.

© 2013 National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences