Despite persistent and extensive observations of crystals with chiral shapes, the mechanisms underlying their formation are not well understood. Although past studies suggest that chiral shapes can form because of crystallization in the presence of chiral additives, or because of an intrinsic tendency that stems from the crystal structure, there are many cases in which these explanations are not suitable or have not been tested. Here, an investigation of model tellurium nanocrystals provides insights into the chain of chirality transfer between crystal structure and shape. We show that this transfer is mediated by screw dislocations, and shape chirality is not an outcome of the chiral crystal structure or ligands.

尽管对具有手性形状的晶体进行了持续和广泛的观察，但对其形成的机理尚不十分了解。尽管过去的研究表明，由于在手性添加剂的存在下结晶或由于晶体结构产生的固有趋势，可以形成手性形状，但在许多情况下，这些解释不合适或未经检验。在这里，对模型碲纳米晶体的研究提供了对晶体结构和形状之间的手性转移链的见解。我们表明这种转移是由螺丝位错介导的，并且形状手性不是手性晶体结构或配体的结果。