A lab mistake led to self-forming spiral patterns on metal surfaces, revealing chemical-mechanical interactions.

UCLA doctoral student Yilin Wong noticed that some tiny dots had appeared on one of her samples, which had been accidentally left out overnight. The layered sample consisted of a germanium wafer ...

Curiosity about a mistake that left tiny dots on a germanium wafer with evaporated metal films led to the discovery of beautiful spiral patterns etched on the surface of the semiconductor by a ...

Hundreds of regular patterns spontaneously emerge on a small germanium chip. A curiosity about tiny dots on a germanium wafer with metal films led to the discovery of intricate spiral patterns etched ...

Key takeawaysCuriosity about a mistake that left tiny dots on a germanium wafer with evaporated metal films led to the ...

Beautiful spiral patterns had been etched into the germanium ... could spontaneously form patterns in space, such as stripes or polka dots. The reaction-diffusion dynamics observed in Wong ...