What makes something a crystal? A transparent and glittery gemstone? Not necessarily, in the microscopic world. When all of its atoms are arranged in accordance with specific mathematical rules, we call the material a single crystal. As the natural world has its unique symmetry, e.g., snowflakes or honeycombs, the atomic world of crystals is designed by its own rules of structure and symmetry. This material structure has a profound effect on its physical properties as well. Specifically, single crystals play an important role in inducing a material’s intrinsic properties to its full extent. Faced with the coming end of the miniaturization process that the silicon-based integrated circuit has allowed up to this point, major efforts have been dedicated to find a single crystalline replacement for silicon.
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Source: Phys.org