Memory Glass: An Amorphous Material Formed from AlPO 4

Abstract
A glass exhibiting structural memory has been produced through the compression of a single crystal of AlPO4 berlinite to 18 gigapascals at 300 kelvin. The unique and extraordinary characteristic of this glass is that upon decompression below 5 gigapascals it transforms back into a single crystal with the same orientation as the starting crystal. This glass has a "memory" of the previous crystallographic orientation of the crystal from which it forms.