Related papers: Crystallization seeds favour crystallization only …
Structural defects in a crystal are responsible for the "two length-scale" behavior, in which a sharp central peak is superimposed over a broad peak in critical diffuse X-ray scattering. We have previously measured the scaling behavior of…
The onset of star formation is set by the collapse of filaments in the interstellar medium. From a theoretical point of view, an isolated cylindrical filament forms cores via the edge effect. Due to the self-gravity of a filament, the…
Glasses and gels are the two dynamically arrested, disordered states of matter. Despite their importance, their similarities and differences remain elusive, especially at high density. We identify dynamical and structural signatures which…
Crystals in nature often demonstrate curved morphologies rather than classical faceted surfaces. Inspired by biogenic curved single crystals, we demonstrate that gold single crystals exhibiting curved surfaces can be grown with no need of…
A coarsened model for a binary system with limited miscibility of components is proposed; the system is described in terms of structural states in small parts of the material. The material is assumed to have two alternative types of…
Granular materials are known to separate by size under a variety of circumstances. Experiments presented here and elucidated by modeling and MD simulation document a new segregation mechanism, namely segregation by friction. The experiments…
DNA-coated colloids can self-assemble into an incredible diversity of crystal structures, but applications of this technology are limited by poor understanding and control over the dynamical crystallization pathways. To address this…
Phase selection in deeply undercooled liquids and devitrified glasses during heating involves complex interplay between the barriers to nucleation and the ability for these nuclei to grow. During the devitrification of glassy alloys,…
When a liquid film of colloidal solution consisting of particles of different sizes is dried on a substrate, the colloids often stratify, where smaller colloids are laid upon larger colloids. This phenomenon is counter intuitive because…
Photonic crystals are extremely sensitive to structural disorder even to the point of completely losing their functionalities. While on one side this can be detrimental for applications in traditional optical devices, on the other side, it…
An elementary model is developed for grain growth during the expansion stage of nova ejecta. Rather than suppressing grain formation, we argue that agglomeration of atoms by dust nuclei proceeds kinetically through induced dipole reactions…
We consider the problem of heterogeneous nucleation and growth. The system is described by a phase field model in which the temperature is included through thermal noise. We show that this phase field approach is suitable to describe…
Crucial to gaining control over crystallisation in multicomponent materials or accurately modelling rheological behaviour of magma flows is to understand the mechanisms by which crystal nuclei form. The microscopic nature of such nuclei,…
Point defects in real crystals at finite temperatures are inevitable. Their dynamics severely influence the mechanical properties of crystals under shear giving rise to nonlinear effects such as ductility. Therefore, it is crucial to…
Polymers with both soluble and insoluble blocks typically self-assemble into micelles, aggregates of a finite number of polymers where the soluble blocks shield the insoluble ones from contact with the solvent. Upon increasing…
Colloidal and other granular media experience a transition to rigidity known as jamming if the fill fraction is increased beyond a critical value. The resulting jammed structures are locally disordered, bear applied loads inhomogenously,…
We determine the non-equilibrium grain size distribution during the crystallization of a solid in $d$ dimensions at fixed thermodynamic conditions, for the random nucleation and growth model, and in absence of grain coalescence. Two…
A crystal of pure nickel grows from its melt at a rate that reaches 70 meters per second. This extraordinary growth rate has led to the suggestion that metallic crystals might provide the next generation of phase change materials. The huge…
The internal energy associated with the defect microstructure of strongly deformed crystals provides an important driving force for grain boundary motion during recrystallization. Typical dislocation microstructures are strongly…
We survey our research on modeling the mechanisms of control of uniformity in growth of nanosize and colloid particles. The former are produced as nanocrystals, by burst-nucleation from solution. The latter, colloid-size particles, are…