When you bake a cake, you can combine the ingredients in almost any proportions, and they will still always be able to mix together. This is a little more complicated in materials chemistry.
Often, the aim is to change the physical properties of a material by adding a certain proportion of an additional element; however, it isn't always possible to incorporate the desired quantity into the crystal structure of the material. At TU Wien, a new method has been developed using which previously unattainable mixtures can be achieved between germanium and desired foreign atoms. This results in new materials with significantly altered properties.
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