Related papers: Amorphous nucleation precursor in highly nonequili…
Hard models for particle interactions have played a crucial role in the understanding of the structure of condensed matter. In particular, they help to explain the formation of oriented phases in liquids made of anisotropic molecules or…
We apply a simple dynamical density functional theory, the phase-field-crystal (PFC) model, to describe homogeneous and heterogeneous crystal nucleation in 2d monodisperse colloidal systems and crystal nucleation in highly compressed Fe…
We monitor the transformation of a liquid into an amorphous solid in simulations of a glass forming liquid by measuring the variation of a structural order parameter with either changing temperature or potential energy to establish the…
Phase diagrams of some globular proteins have a fluid-fluid transition as well as a fluid-crystal transition. Homogeneous nucleation of the crystal from the fluid phase near the critical point of the fluid-fluid transition is examined. As…
Active particles under soft confinement such as droplets or vesicles present intriguing phenomena, as collective motion emerges alongside the deformation of the environment. A model is employed to systematically investigate droplet…
In the study of crystal nucleation via computer simulations, hard spheres are arguably the most extensively explored model system. Nonetheless, even in this simple model system, the complex thermodynamics of crystal nuclei can sometimes…
Amorphous solids are mechanically rigid while possessing a disordered structure similar to that of dense liquids. Recent research indicates that dynamical heterogeneity, spatio-temporal fluctuations in local dynamical behavior, might help…
Macroscopic models of nucleation provide powerful tools for understanding activated phase transition processes. These models do not provide atomistic insights and can thus sometime lack material-specific descriptions. Here we provide a…
The stability of organic solar cells is strongly affected by the morphology of the photoactive layers, whose separated crystalline and/or amorphous phases are kinetically quenched far from their thermodynamic equilibrium during the…
Liquid crystals have attracted enormous interest because of the variety of their phases and richness of their application. The interplay of general physical symmetries and specific molecular features generates a myriad of different…
We report a numerical study of the rate of crystal nucleation in a binary suspension of oppositely charged colloids. Two different crystal structures compete in the thermodynamic conditions under study. We find that the crystal phase that…
Crystallization often proceeds through successive stages that lead to a gradual increase in organization. Using molecular simulation, we determine the nucleation pathway for solid solutions of copper and gold. We identify a new nucleation…
It is widely believed that heterogeneous nucleation occurs without an activation process when the surface is completely wettable. In this report, we review our previous work [J.Chem.Phys {\bf 134}, 234709 (2011)] to show that the critical…
In studying solidification process by simulations on the atomic scale, the modeling of crystal nucleation or amorphisation requires the construction of interatomic interactions that are able to reproduce the properties of both the solid and…
Liquid crystals in two dimensions undergo a first-order isotropic-to-quasi-nematic transition, provided the particle interactions are sufficiently ``sharp and narrow''. This implies phase coexistence between isotropic and quasi-nematic…
Solidification pattern during nonequilibrium crystallization is among the most important microstructures in the nature and technical realms. Phase field crystal (PFC) model could simulate the pattern formation during equilibrium…
Motivated by unexpected morphologies of the emerging liquid phase (channels, bulges, droplets) at the edge of thin, melting alkane terraces, we propose a new heterogeneous nucleation pathway. The competition between bulk and interfacial…
Nucleation phenomena commonly observed in our every day life are of fundamental, technological and societal importance in many areas, but some of their most intimate mechanisms remain however to be unraveled. Crystal nucleation, the early…
A general Landau's free energy functional is used to study the dynamics of crystallization during liquid-solid Spinodal Decomposition (SD). The strong length scale selectivity imposed during the early stage of SD induces the appearance of…
We present a computer simulation study on crystal nucleation and growth in supersaturated suspensions of mono-disperse hard spheres induced by a triangular lattice substrate. The main result is that compressed substrates are wet by the…