Perovskites Prospectus

Leslie D. Almberg

Building blocks a breathing planet
our paths never crossing before

Holding high with giant shoulders
orchestrating steps we pass o'er
Ah, only flirting the surface!
preferring to enshroud the core

Your strength a break in resistance,
conducting yourself to the fore
Do you toy with my compass direction?
What histories lock you in store?

Such enchanting characteristics
propel endless searches for more
With promising defect perfection
lionised solar cells roar

Will you make over each television
with quantum dot nanos galore?
Creating colours in tandem stacked prisms
your abiotic chromatophores

Will such wizardry guide technology
to humanity’s penultimate valour?

The Science

Perovskites are a group of synthetic materials with the same crystal structure as the mineral perovskite, which is a common component of Earth’s mantle, comprising nearly 90% of our planet by volume, yet rarely found at the surface. Their particular properties (e.g. superconductivity, large changes in magnetoresistance and spontaneous changes in electrical polarisation in the presence of an electrical field, etc.) make them promising for applications in microelectronics, telecommunications, and fuel cells. Their fault tolerance and higher power conversion rates may revolutionise solar power generation.

The Poet

Dr. Leslie D Almberg is a volcanologist and geoscience educator who dabbles more than she probably should in science-steeped poetry. In addition to rhyme and verse, she also writes fiction and non-fiction when not editing, teaching, or reading. Her work can be found across several Medium publications and in random Tweets @AspienBlue.

Next poem: Pluto's summer vacation by Lyndal Frazier-Cairns