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At least 1,531 records · Page 85
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Short review of high-pressure crystal growth and magnetic and electrical properties of solid-state osmium oxides

High-pressure crystal growth and synthesis of selected solid-state osmium oxides, many of which are perovskite-related types, are briefly reviewed, and their magnetic and electrical properties are introduced. Crystals of the osmium oxides, including NaOsO{sub 3}, LiOsO{sub 3}, and Na{sub 2}OsO{sub 4}, were successfully grown under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions at 6 GPa in the presence of an appropriate amount of flux in a belt-type apparatus. The unexpected discovery of a magnetic metal–insulator transition in NaOsO{sub 3}, a ferroelectric-like transition in LiOsO{sub 3}, and high-temperature ferrimagnetism driven by a local structural distortion in Ca{sub 2}FeOsO{sub 6} may represent unique features of the osmium oxides. The high-pressure and high-temperature synthesis and crystal growth has played a central role in the development of solid-state osmium oxides and the elucidation of their magnetic and electronic properties toward possible use in multifunctional devices. - Graphical Abstract: Flux-grown crystals of NaOsO{sub 3} under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions in a belt-type apparatus. The crystal shows a magnetically driven metal–insulator transition at a temperature of 410 K. - Highlights: • Short review of high-pressure crystal growth of solid-state osmium oxides. • Wide variety of magnetic properties of solid-state osmium oxides. • Perovskite and related dense structures stabilized at 3–17 GPa.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2013

Crystal structure and elementary electronic properties of Bi-stabilized α-In{sub 2}Se{sub 3}

Highlights: • The introduction of Bi stabilizes α-In{sub 2}Se{sub 3} and facilitates the crystal growth. • Optical measurements show an indirect band gap. • Transport measurements show semiconducting temperature dependence. - Abstract: The introduction of Bi as a substitution for In at ∼12% in In{sub 2}Se{sub 3} stabilizes the α-polymorph and facilitates the crystal growth by the modified Bridgeman method. The crystal structure (R−3m, Z = 3, a = 3.9978(8) Å, c = 28.276(6) Å) and composition, (In{sub 0.88}Bi{sub 0.12}){sub 2}Se{sub 3}, of the crystals were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The structure, of the tetradymite type, displays positional disorder within the middle Se layer. Optical measurements indicate that (In{sub 0.88}Bi{sub 0.12}){sub 2}Se{sub 3} has an indirect band gap of about 1.19 eV, shown by electronic structure calculations to be from valence band states near the Γ point to conduction band states at the L point. Resistivity and Hall effect measurements on Sn-doped crystals of composition (In{sub 0.88}Bi{sub 0.115}Sn{sub 0.005}){sub 2}Se{sub 3} show it to have a relatively high semiconducting resistivity, about 6 × 10{sup 4} Ω cm at 300 K, with an n-type carrier concentration varying from 10{sup 12}/cm{sup 3} at 300 K to 10{sup 15}/cm{sup 3} at 400 K.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Effect of adjusting composition on the crystallization and luminescence properties in NaYF{sub 4}:Er{sup 3+} embedded glass ceramics

Highlights: • Intense 2.7 μm emission was achieved in transparent glass ceramics containing NaYF{sub 4}:Er{sup 3+} nanocrystals. • The crystallization and luminescence properties of the nanocrystals embedded glass ceramics are tuned by adjusting the Na{sub 2}O/NaF ratio. • Modifying the properties of glass ceramics through adjusting the glass composition is an effective route. - Abstract: Intense 2.7 μm emission was achieved in transparent glass ceramics containing NaYF{sub 4}:Er{sup 3+} nanocrystals. The effect of adjusting Na{sub 2}O/NaF ratio in glass composition on the crystallizing and luminescence behavior in the glass ceramics was investigated. The controllable crystallization property of NaYF{sub 4} nanocrystals was remained after modifying the glass composition and the crystallization temperature was largely reduced for the samples with high Na{sub 2}O content. The X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analysis evidenced the shrink of lattice parameter with increasing Na{sub 2}O content. High transparency was kept for these glass ceramic samples, and intense upconversion, near- and mid-infrared emissions were obtained in Er{sup 3+}-doped glass ceramics with an increase of red/green ratio and prominent Stark splits in the sample with high Na{sub 2}O content, indicating the change of crystal field around Er{sup 3+} in the host matrix. Our results indicate that the crystallization and luminescence properties of glass ceramics could be modified through adjusting the glass composition, and it is an effective route to develop glass ceramics with favorable properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Automated Identification of Molecular Crystals’ Packing Motifs

Packing motifs—patterns in how molecules orient relative to one another in a crystal structure—are an important concept in many subdisciplines of materials science because of correlations observed between specific packing motifs and properties of interest. That said, packing motif data sets have remained small and noisy due to intensive manual labeling processes and insufficient labeling schemes. The most prominent labeling algorithms calculate relative interplanar angles of nearest neighbor molecules to determine the packing motif of a molecular crystal, but this simple approach can fail when neighbors are naively sampled isotropically around the crystal structure. To remedy this issue, here we propose an optimization algorithm, which rotates the molecular crystal structure to find representative molecules that inform the packing motif. We package this algorithm into an automated framework—Autopack—which both optimally rotates the crystal structure and labels the packing motif based on the appropriate neighboring molecules. In this work, we detail the Autopack framework and its performance, which shows improvements compared to previous state-of-the-art labeling methods, providing the first quantitative point of comparison for packing motif labeling algorithms. Furthermore, using Autopack (available at https://ipo.llnl.gov/technologies/software/autopack), we perform the first large-scale study of potential relationships between chemicals’ compositions and packing motifs, which shows that these relationships are more complex than previously hypothesized from studies that used only tens of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules. Autopack’s capabilities help pose next steps for crystal engineering research focusing not only on a molecule’s adoption of a specific packing motif but also on new structure–property relationships.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Volumetric Shaping of Nanoparticle-DNA Crystals by Light-Induced Milling

DNA-programmable self-assembly enables the formation of nanoparticle crystals with controlled lattice symmetry. While this approach offers the formation of complexly ordered nanostructures for optical, mechanical, and biological applications, a mesoscale control over such nanomaterials is limited. Directing the material formation process through the assembly pathway or external fields allows for modulating crystal morphology, but achieving arbitrary morphology remains challenging. Here, we present a photothermal method for shaping 3D DNA-programmable crystals of gold nanoparticles. Through local heating of nanoparticles due to plasmonic light absorption, we induce targeted volumetric dissolution of specifically defined crystal areas with micron-scale accuracy. This technique effectively prescribes crystal shaping and creates arbitrarily shaped voids within crystals. We further investigate both computationally and experimentally the key factors governing volumetric material subtraction. The developed automated light-milling platform enables the fabrication of nanomaterials exhibiting both DNA-programmable nanoscale order and custom-designed mesoscale architecture.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Perfection in Nucleation and Growth of Blue-Phase Single Crystals: Small Free-Energy Required to Self-Assemble at Specific Lattice Orientation

Chemically patterned surfaces can be used to selectively stabilize blue phases as macroscopic single crystals with a prescribed lattice orientation. By tailoring the interfacial free energy through the pattern characteristics, it is possible to set, with nanoscale precision, the optimal conditions to induce spontaneously blue-phase crystal nucleation on the patterned substrate where a uniform, defect-free, blue-phase single crystal is finally formed in a matter of seconds. The chemical patterns taken into consideration in this work are made up of alternated stripelike regions of homeotropic and planar anchoring. By varying the stripe pattern dimension, including the period and ratio of the planar/homeotropic anchoring width, it is possible to generate blue-phase I single crystals with (110) lattice orientation and blue-phase II single crystals with either the (100), (110), or (111) lattice orientation. Continuum mean-field calculations of the studied systems serve to explain, in terms of the free energy of the systems, how the pattern dimensions favor certain crystallographic orientations while penalizing the others. We found that a small free-energy difference is sufficient to drive the nucleation and growth of blue phases into a certain lattice orientation. Furthermore, a processing window for obtaining arbitrary large blue-phase single crystals with predesigned lattice orientation, highly aligned reflective peaks, and significantly short forming time is provided here, which is essential for manufacturing and modulating optical devices and photonics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

High Temperature, Isothermal Growth Promotes Close Packing and Thermal Stability in DNA-Engineered Colloidal Crystals

Here, we report a strategy to accelerate the synthesis and increase the crystallinity of colloidal crystals engineered with DNA. Specifically, by holding the DNA-modified Au particle building blocks above the T m of the individual nanoparticle building blocks, but slightly below the T m of the anticipated colloidal crystal during the assembly process, crystallinity is increased, and enthalpically-favored phases with high degrees of facet registration are observed. We studied the utility of this approach with systems for which the commonly adopted slow-cooling approach yielded primarily amorphous aggregates. In particular, we used it to synthesize high-volume fraction colloidal crystals from large (80 nm) anisotropic nanoparticles (cubes and rhombic dodecahedra) with short (<14 nm) DNA designed to restrict the degrees of freedom for the DNA bonds and maintain the anisotropy of the particle building block. Small-angle X-ray scattering and electron microscopy studies show that the crystalline phases synthesized via this method are more thermally stable than their corresponding aggregate phases, likely due to an increased number of DNA-DNA bonds between particles. Crystal size tunability (between 0.5 and 15 µm edge lengths) and epitaxial growth were demonstrated using this strategy by modulating the NaCl concentration in tandem with previously synthesized colloidal crystal nuclei. Taken together, this isothermal strategy provides a route to deliberately crystallize a wide variety of anisotropic colloidal materials and expands the phase space accessible to nanoparticles modified with DNA.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Revealing and Engineering Assembly Pathways of 3D DNA Origami Crystals

Recent developments in nanomaterial self-assembly demonstrate the capability to create tailored nanostructures by engineering both the binding coordination and specificity of interactions between material subunits. DNA origami frames allow for the design and fabrication of a broad variety of ordered 3D nanoscale architectures through self-assembly, facilitated by frame-to-frame bonds with designable strength and specificity. While the bond design is critical to lattice formation, the assembly process itself is often dependent on a thermal pathway. Highly ordered nanoscale frameworks, assembled from DNA frames, are predominantly crystallized through thermal annealing pathways that typically follow a “slow” cooling approach, with experiments on the time scale of days yielding DNA origami crystals in the range of 1−10 μm. This extended assembly time scale hinders the study of crystal formation pathways, necessitating a deeper understanding of factors governing successful annealing. Lack of insight into time scale also presents a practical limitation for material fabrication. Here, we investigate key factors affecting lattice assembly pathways and demonstrate that precise engineering of assembly conditions greatly reduces assembly times by up to nearly 2 orders of magnitude. We evaluate the nucleation and growth of crystals via optical and electron microscopy, and small-angle X-ray scattering techniques, mapping the time−temperature-transformation of superlattices from the melt through single-crystal optical tracking. The results show that origami frame assembly can be described by classical nucleation and growth theory, which can, in turn, be used to prescribe the growth of the crystals. Lastly, these findings are applied to demonstrate thermal pathway-dependent assembly, forming distinct assemblies based on different thermal annealing profiles.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Comparison of Sn-doped and nonstoichiometric vertical-Bridgman-grown crystals of the topological insulator Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 2}Se

A comparative study of the properties of topological insulator Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 2}Se (BTS) crystals grown by the vertical Bridgeman method is described. Two defect mechanisms that create acceptor impurities to compensate for the native n-type carriers are compared: Bi excess, and light Sn doping. Both methods yield low carrier concentrations and an n-p crossover over the length of the grown crystal boules, but lower carrier concentrations and higher resistivities are obtained for the Sn-doped crystals, which reach carrier concentrations as low as 8 × 10{sup 14} cm{sup −3}. Further, the temperature dependent resistivities for the Sn-doped crystals display strongly activated behavior at high temperatures, with a characteristic energy of half the bulk band gap. The (001) cleaved Sn-doped BTS crystals display high quality Shubnikov de Haas (SdH) quantum oscillations due to the topological surface state electrons. Angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) characterization shows that the Fermi energy (E{sub F}) for the Sn-doped crystals falls cleanly in the surface states with no interference from the bulk bands, which the Dirac point for the surface states lies approximately 60 meV below the top of the bulk valence band maximum, and allows for a determination of the bulk and surface state carrier concentrations as a function of Energy near E{sub F}. Electronic structure calculations that compare Bi excess and Sn dopants in BTS demonstrate that Sn acts as a special impurity, with a localized impurity band that acts as a charge buffer occurring inside the bulk band gap. We propose that the special resonant level character of Sn in BTS gives rise to the exceptionally low carrier concentrations and activated resistivities observed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Comparison of crystal growth and thermoelectric properties of n-type Bi-Se-Te and p-type Bi-Sb-Te nanocrystalline thin films: Effects of homogeneous irradiation with an electron beam

The effects of homogenous electron beam (EB) irradiation on the crystal growth and thermoelectric properties of n-type Bi-Se-Te and p-type Bi-Sb-Te thin films were investigated. Both types of thin films were prepared by flash evaporation, after which homogeneous EB irradiation was performed at an acceleration voltage of 0.17 MeV. For the n-type thin films, nanodots with a diameter of less than 10 nm were observed on the surface of rice-like nanostructures, and crystallization and crystal orientation were improved by EB irradiation. The resulting enhancement of mobility led to increased electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power factor for the n-type thin films. In contrast, the crystallization and crystal orientation of the p-type thin films were not influenced by EB irradiation. The carrier concentration increased and mobility decreased with increased EB irradiation dose, possibly because of the generation of defects. As a result, the thermoelectric power factor of p-type thin films was not improved by EB irradiation. The different crystallization behavior of the n-type and p-type thin films is attributed to atomic rearrangement during EB irradiation. Selenium in the n-type thin films is more likely to undergo atomic rearrangement than the other atoms present, so only the crystallinity of the n-type Bi-Se-Te thin films was enhanced.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Time temperature transformation diagram for secondary crystal products of Co-based Co-Fe-B-Si-Nb-Mn soft magnetic nanocomposite

Secondary crystallization is the subject of much investigation in magnetic amorphous and nanocomposites (MANCs) as it limits the long term and thermal stability of their operation in device applications, including power electronics, sensors, and electric motors. Secondary crystal products [Blazquez et al., Philos. Mag. Lett. 82(7), 409–417 (2002); Ohodnicki et al., Phys. Rev. B 78, 144414 (2008); Willard et al., Metall. Mater. Trans. A 38, 725 (2007)], nanostructure and crystallization kinetics [Hsiao et al., IEEE Trans. Magn. 38(5), 3039 (2002); McHenry et al., Scr. Mater. 48(7), 881 (2003)], and onset temperatures and activation energies [Ohodnicki et al., Acta. Mater. 57, 87 (2009); Long et al., J. Appl. Phys. 101, 09N114 (2007)] at constant heating have been reported for similar alloys. However, a time-temperature-transformation (TTT) diagram for isothermal crystallization, more typical of application environments, has not been reported in literature. Here, a TTT diagram for the Co based, Co-Fe-Si-Nb-B-Mn MANC system is presented, along with a method for determining such. The method accounts for the presence of primary crystal phases and yields crystal fraction of secondary phase(s) by using a novel four stage heating profile. The diagram, affirmed by Kissinger activation energy analysis, reports thermal stability of the MANC for millennia at conventional device operating temperatures, and stability limits less than a minute at elevated temperatures. Both extremes are necessary to be able to avoid secondary crystalline products and establish operating limits for this mechanically attractive, high induction soft magnetic nanocomposite.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Crystallization of glass-forming liquids: Specific surface energy

A generalization of the Stefan-Skapski-Turnbull relation for the melt-crystal specific interfacial energy is developed in terms of the generalized Gibbs approach extending its standard formulation to thermodynamic non-equilibrium states. With respect to crystal nucleation, this relation is required in order to determine the parameters of the critical crystal clusters being a prerequisite for the computation of the work of critical cluster formation. As one of its consequences, a relation for the dependence of the specific surface energy of critical clusters on temperature and pressure is derived applicable for small and moderate deviations from liquid-crystal macroscopic equilibrium states. Employing the Stefan-Skapski-Turnbull relation, general expressions for the size and the work of formation of critical crystal clusters are formulated. The resulting expressions are much more complex as compared to the respective relations obtained via the classical Gibbs theory. Latter relations are retained as limiting cases of these more general expressions for moderate undercoolings. By this reason, the formulated, here, general relations for the specification of the critical cluster size and the work of critical cluster formation give a key for an appropriate interpretation of a variety of crystallization phenomena occurring at large undercoolings which cannot be understood in terms of the Gibbs’ classical treatment.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

Crystals of Janus colloids at various interaction ranges

We investigate the effect of interaction range on the phase behaviour of Janus particles with a Kern-Frenkel potential. Specifically, we study interaction ranges Δ = 0.1σ, 0.3σ, 0.4σ, 0.5σ with σ the particle diameter, and use variable box shape simulations to predict crystal structures. We found that changing the interaction range beyond 0.2σ drastically increases the variety of possible crystal structures. In addition to close-packed structures, we find body-centered tetragonal and AA-stacked hexagonal crystals, as well as several lamellar crystals. For long interaction ranges and low temperatures, we also observe an extremely large number of metastable structures which compete with the thermodynamically stable ones. These competing structures hinder the detection of the lowest-energy crystal structures, and are also likely to interfere with the spontaneous formation of the ground-state structure. Finally, we determine the gas-liquid coexistence curves for several interaction ranges, and observe that these are metastable with respect to crystallization.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Multimode theory of plasmon excitation at a metal – photonic crystal interface

Surface plasmon excitation at a photonic crystal – metal interface is studied taking into account multiple scattering of an initial light wave on a periodical crystal structure. The analysis is focused on calculating characteristics of the eigenwaves in a one-dimensional crystal, which comprise a set of harmonics with the wavevectors separated from each other by the value of the crystal lattice wavevector. Reflection from the crystal – metal interface binds the amplitudes of propagating and evanescent modes. Calculations show that for the dielectric characteristics of a synthetic opal and a substrate made of a real metal with a ruby laser radiation used as the initial wave, the fulfilment of plasmon resonance conditions leads to a local increase in the surface plasmon amplitude by a factor of 6.4 – 9 as compared to the average amplitude of the initial wave. As a rule, the effect can only be obtained for a single surface wave, all other waves being substantially weaker than the main plasmon. There is a specific case where the resonance condition holds for two modes simultaneously. In this case, two oppositely directed fluxes of equal intensity are generated at the interface. The resonance condition breaks at a small deviation of the incident angle of the initial wave θ from the normal direction (|θ| ⩾ 10{sup −4} rad). In the latter case, the picture is asymmetric: at angles |θ| ⩾ 5 × 10{sup −3} rad, only one plasmon remains intensive. The local density of electromagnetic energy at the photonic crystal – metal interface may exceed the corresponding value of the initial wave by a factor of 40 – 80. (surface plasmons)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Multistage nucleation pathway in LiF molten salt mirrors the crystal–melt interface structure

Despite over a century of studies, fundamental questions remain about the processes governing crystal nucleation from melts or solutions. Research over the past three decades has presented mounting evidence for kinetic pathways of crystal nucleation that are more complex than envisioned by the simplest forms of classical theory. Such observations have been presented for colloidal and elemental systems with covalent and metallic bonding. Despite the technological and geochemical importance of molten salts, similar studies for these ionically bonded systems are currently lacking. Here we develop a machine learning interatomic potential for a model ionic system: LiF. The potential features quantum-level accuracy for both liquid and multiple solid polymorphs over wide temperature and pressure ranges and accurately reproduces experimentally measured properties. Thanks to the efficiency of the potential, which enables microsecond-scale molecular dynamics simulations, induction times for nucleation of LiF solids from their melts are computed over a range of undercoolings. With the aid of a set of robust local order parameters established here, the simulations reveal that homogeneous crystal nucleation in undercooled melts preferentially initiates from liquid regions showing slow dynamics and high bond orientational order simultaneously, and the second-shell order of both precritical nuclei and the surface of postcritical nuclei is dominated by hexagonal close packing and body-centered cubic local structure, even though the nucleus core is dominated by face-centered cubic structure corresponding to the stable rocksalt crystal structure. Finally, we establish a connection between the crystallization pathway and the equilibrium crystal-melt interface structure.

Applied Physical Sciences↗
DOE OSTI2015

The solvent component of macromolecular crystals

On average, the mother liquor or solvent and its constituents occupy about 50% of a macromolecular crystal. Ordered as well as disordered solvent components need to be accurately accounted for in modelling and refinement, often with considerable complexity. The mother liquor from which a biomolecular crystal is grown will contain water, buffer molecules, native ligands and cofactors, crystallization precipitants and additives, various metal ions, and often small-molecule ligands or inhibitors. On average, about half the volume of a biomolecular crystal consists of this mother liquor, whose components form the disordered bulk solvent. Its scattering contributions can be exploited in initial phasing and must be included in crystal structure refinement as a bulk-solvent model. Concomitantly, distinct electron density originating from ordered solvent components must be correctly identified and represented as part of the atomic crystal structure model. Herein, are reviewed (i) probabilistic bulk-solvent content estimates, (ii) the use of bulk-solvent density modification in phase improvement, (iii) bulk-solvent models and refinement of bulk-solvent contributions and (iv) modelling and validation of ordered solvent constituents. A brief summary is provided of current tools for bulk-solvent analysis and refinement, as well as of modelling, refinement and analysis of ordered solvent components, including small-molecule ligands.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of latent isoform PPO4 mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) tyrosinase

Polyphenol oxidase 4 (PPO4) from the natural source A. bisporus was crystallized in its latent precursor form (pro-tyrosinase; Ser2–Thr565) using the 6-tungstotellurate(VI) salt Na{sub 6}[TeW{sub 6}O{sub 24}]·22H{sub 2}O as a crystallization additive. Tyrosinase exhibits catalytic activity for the ortho-hydroxylation of monophenols to diphenols as well as their subsequent oxidation to quinones. Owing to polymerization of these quinones, brown-coloured high-molecular-weight compounds called melanins are generated. The latent precursor form of polyphenol oxidase 4, one of the six tyrosinase isoforms from Agaricus bisporus, was purified to homogeneity and crystallized. The obtained crystals belonged to space group C121 (two molecules per asymmetric unit) and diffracted to 2.78 Å resolution. The protein only formed crystals under low-salt conditions using the 6-tungstotellurate(VI) salt Na{sub 6}[TeW{sub 6}O{sub 24}]·22H{sub 2}O as a co-crystallization agent.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the periplasmic domain of the Escherichia coli aspartate receptor Tar and its complex with aspartate

The periplasmic domain of the E. coli aspartate receptor Tar was cloned, expressed, purified and crystallized with and without bound ligand. The crystals obtained diffracted to resolutions of 1.58 and 1.95 Å, respectively. The cell-surface receptor Tar mediates bacterial chemotaxis toward an attractant, aspartate (Asp), and away from a repellent, Ni{sup 2+}. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the induction of Tar activity by its ligands, the Escherichia coli Tar periplasmic domain with and without bound aspartate (Asp-Tar and apo-Tar, respectively) were each crystallized in two different forms. Using ammonium sulfate as a precipitant, crystals of apo-Tar1 and Asp-Tar1 were grown and diffracted to resolutions of 2.10 and 2.40 Å, respectively. Alternatively, using sodium chloride as a precipitant, crystals of apo-Tar2 and Asp-Tar2 were grown and diffracted to resolutions of 1.95 and 1.58 Å, respectively. Crystals of apo-Tar1 and Asp-Tar1 adopted space group P4{sub 1}2{sub 1}2, while those of apo-Tar2 and Asp-Tar2 adopted space groups P2{sub 1}2{sub 1}2{sub 1} and C2, respectively.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗