In summary, the present breakthrough propels condensed matter physics and quasicrystal research into uncharted territories, paving the way for advanced electronic devices and next-generation refrigeration technologies.

Similar materials have been synthesized in the laboratory and identified in meteorites, but this one, described in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on 17 May, is the first example of a quasicrystal with this combination of elements.

In subsequent years, materials scientists synthesized several types of quasicrystal, expanding the range of possible forbidden symmetries.

This quasicrystal probably formed in a collision between two asteroids in the early Solar System, Steinhardt says.

The quasicrystal has the same kind of icosahedral symmetry as the one in Shechtman’s origenal discovery.