Nanometric Turing Patterns: Morphogenesis of a Bismuth Monolayer

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the first observation of Turing patterns at the atomic scale in a strained bismuth monolayer, revealing quantum mechanical constraints influence pattern formation.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental evidence of Turing patterns emerging at the atomic level, bridging classical morphogenesis theory with quantum-scale phenomena.

Findings

Observation of stripe patterns and domain walls with Y-shaped junctions

Quantum constraints determine the microscopic parameters of pattern formation

First demonstration of dynamic Turing pattern formation at atomic scale

Abstract

Turing's reaction-diffusion theory of morphogenesis has been very successful in understanding macroscopic patterns within complex objects ranging from biological systems to sand dunes. However, this mechanism was never tested against patterns that emerge at the atomic scale, where the basic ingredients are subject to constraints imposed by quantum mechanics. Here we report evidence of a Turing pattern that appears in a strained atomic bismuth monolayer assembling on the surface of NbSe$_2$ subject to interatomic interactions and respective kinetics. The narrow range of microscopic parameters reflected in numerical analysis that observe stripe patterns and domain walls with Y-shaped junctions is a direct consequence of the quantum-mechanically allowed bond-lengths and bond-angles. This is therefore the first demonstration of a dynamically formed Turing pattern at the atomic scale.