The Nobel Prize I received for the discovery of the first quasiperiodic phase...
...by electron microscopy.
It is the discovery that opened the field for quasiperiodic materials,
which are unlike periodic crystals that existed and were known for 70 years,
from the beginning of the science of crystallography in 1912 -
- my discovery was in 1982.
The main importance of quasiperiodic materials, as of now,
is the paradigm shift that they created in crystallography.
They opened the field of crystallography.
Before, it was very closed. It was a mature science...
...and nobody expected any great discoveries in this science.
Now, there is a new definition for a crystal.
The new definition is humble and accepting.
It opened the field to new discoveries.
Now, if we have new discoveries, they will be accepted much faster.
This is important. It is a great progress in the field.
The company Sandvik had created a steel,
which is stainless and precipitation hardened.
It is very strong and it is a wonderful steel, one of the best in the world.
The properties are due to tiny quasicrystalline particles that are in this alloy,
and which make this alloy so wonderful and so strong.
Other applications depend on other properties.
For instance, many quasiperiodic materials have low surface energy,
and they are non-stick materials.
You can coat a frying pan with a quasicrystal...
...and it will serve like Teflon...
...and unlike Teflon, it does not wear out. It is very hard.
If you find a property which is unique, and the other properties fit,
and the prize is OK, and the appearance is OK and you can deposit it...
...or build it in some way that is useful, then you can find uses.
But let’s expand on this a little bit.
When quasiperiodic materials were discovered,
the mathematics of quasiperiodicity started to develop very fast,
and the mathematicians took the field deep into the future.
So the field of mathematics developed.
And there were other fields that developed in certain directions.
For instance, you don’t have to make materials to create...
...a quasiperiodic array of some kind.
Penrose tiles is an example of an array.
It is not a material, it is a shape.
Then, you can create antennas...
...to broadcast and receive information based on quasiperiodicity...
...and there are some advantages to that.
So the field is really developing and growing out of materials.
Quasiperiodicity became a serious subject of research in many fields.
That’s another important contribution.