crystallo-, crystall-

A reference to rocks that are composed of crystals too small to be seen with a petrological microscope.

1. A clear rock that looks like glass, especially quartz.
2. A crystalline substance that has semiconducting or piezoelectric properties and is used as an electronic component, or the electrical device using it.
3. Something that has the form of a crystal; for example, a frozen snowflake or a grain of salt.
4. A heavy transparent sparkling glass or household crystal glass objects made from heavy transparent sparkling glass.
5. Etymology: from Old English cristal, "clear ice, clear mineral", from Old French cristal, 12th century, Modern French crystal; from Latin crystallus, "crystal, ice"; from Greek krystallos, from kryos, "frost".

Resembling crystal, as in transparency or distinctness of structure or outline.

A photograph produced when X-rays are diffracted by a crystal.

Someone who works in the branch of science that deals with the geometric description of crystals, their internal arrangements, and their properties.

A line of work in a branch of science that deals with the geometric description of crystals, their internal arrangements, and their properties: "Crystallography is the study of forms, structures, and the properties of crystals."

Divination by means of a crystal or other transparent body, especially a beryl: Little Sally sat at the table with a glass globe in front of her and tried to induce a psychic condition so that she could do some crystallomancy to impress her friends.

1. A crystal held together by the electric forces between ions, as for a chemical compound that is a salt; such as, sodium chloride.
2. A crystal in which the lattice-site occupants are charged ions held together primarily by their electrostatic interaction.
3. A crystal formed of an array of positive and negative ions held together by electrostatic forces.

Relating to crystalline rocks having crystals of a diameter intermediate between those of microcrystalline and macrocrystalline rocks.

A form of silicon used as a light-absorbing semiconductor in photovoltaic cells; similar to amorphous silicon (a-Si), in that it has an amorphous phase, but nc-Si has small grains of crystalline silicon within the amorphous phase.

A nanostructured array of holes used as an optical semiconductor.

Just as electronic bandgaps (energy difference between a non-conductive state and the conductive state) prevent electrons from passing through, photonic crystals create photonic bandgaps that confine light.

This technology increases the efficiency in optical fibers and allows microscopic lasers to be built. It is also expected to be used in the construction of photonic circuits that can stand alone or be integrated into semiconductor circuits.