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The craziest application of metal crystal structures I know of is in jet turbine blades. The entire turbine blade is made of a single metal crystal structure. This is part of the reason they can operate at temperatures that would normal weaken and deform the metal.
AFAIK, that’s also how microprocessors are made; single crystals of silicon, though that’s a metalloid not a metal.
This is also a big part of why manufacturing in space has huge potential. In micro-gravity, crystal formation is less effected. I risk it’s a bigger deal for things like proteins, optics, and other non-metal things, though.
The craziest application of metal crystal structures I know of is in jet turbine blades. The entire turbine blade is made of a single metal crystal structure. This is part of the reason they can operate at temperatures that would normal weaken and deform the metal.
AFAIK, that’s also how microprocessors are made; single crystals of silicon, though that’s a metalloid not a metal.
This is also a big part of why manufacturing in space has huge potential. In micro-gravity, crystal formation is less effected. I risk it’s a bigger deal for things like proteins, optics, and other non-metal things, though.