Related papers: Controlled creation of point defects in 3D colloid…

We present a novel, self-consistent and robust theoretical model to investigate elastic interactions between topological defects in liquid crystal shells. Accounting for the non-concentric nature of the shell in a simple manner, we are able…

Structural defects are ubiquitous in condensed matter, and not always a nuisance. For example, they underlie phenomena such as Anderson localization and hyperuniformity, and they are now being exploited to engineer novel materials. Here, we…

One of most intriguing problems of heterogeneous crystal nucleation in droplets is its strong enhancement in the contact mode (when the foreign particle is presumably in some kind of contact with the droplet surface) compared to the…

The ordering of particles in the drying process of a colloidal suspension is crucial in determining the properties of the resulting film. For example, microscopic inhomogeneities can lead to the formation of cracks and defects that can…

The production of monodisperse particles or droplets is a longstanding issue across various fields, from aerosol science to inkjet printing. In bioengineering, submillimeter cell laden hydrogel capsules have proven valuable for developing…

Interacting many-particle systems can self-organize into a rich variety of crystalline structures. While symmetry provides a powerful framework for predicting whether transitions between crystal states are continuous or discontinuous,…

Making use of the energetics and equations of state of defective uranium dioxide that calculated with first-principles method, we demonstrate a possibility of constraining the formation energy of point defects by measuring the transition…

Melting of two-dimensional (2D) equilibrium crystals, from superconducting vortex lattices to colloidal structures, is a complex phenomenon characterized by the sequential loss of positional and orientational order. Whereas melting…

Modeling point defects at an atomic scale requires careful treatment of the long-range atomic relaxations. This elastic field can strongly affect point defect properties calculated in atomistic simulations because of the finite size of the…

We consider an isolated point defect embedded in a homogeneous crystalline solid. We show that, in the harmonic approximation, a periodic supercell approximation of the formation free energy as well as of the transition rate between two…

The analysis of defects and defect dynamics in crystalline materials is important for fundamental science and for a wide range of applied engineering. With increasing system size the analysis of molecular-dynamics simulation data becomes…

Material properties strongly depend on the nature and concentration of defects. Characterizing these features may require nano- to atomic-scale resolution to establish structure-property relationships. 4D-STEM, a technique where diffraction…

The process of formation for an ice crystal with elaborate, symmetrical patterns from the water vapor is usually complicated and the corresponding mechanism is still not clear. Here, we experimentally constructed the 3D tubular ice crystals…

The formation of colloidal gels is strongly dependent on the volume fraction of the system and the strength of the interactions between the colloids. Here we explore very dilute solutions by the means of numerical simulations, and show…

Superresolution microscopy has become a powerful tool to investigate the internal structure of complex colloidal and polymeric systems, such as microgels, at the nanometer scale. The ability to monitor microgels response to temperature…

We study the relationship between topological defect formation and ground-state packings in a model of repulsions in external confining potentials. Specifically we consider screened 2D Coulombic repulsions, which conveniently parameterizes…

Hollow microgels are elastic polymer shells easily realizable in experiments. Recent works have shown the emergence of buckling events in dilute hollow microgels under the effect of an added osmotic pressure. Here, we perform large-scale…

Motile liquid crystal (LC) colloids show peculiar behavior due to the high sensitivity to external stimuli driven by the LC elastic and surface effects. However, few studies focus on harnessing the LC phase transitions to propel colloidal…

We assemble charged colloidal spheres at deliberately chosen locations on a charged unstructured glass substrate utilizing ion exchange based electro-osmotic micro-pumps. Using microscopy, a simple scaling theory and Brownian Dynamics…

Photonic crystals with a sufficiently high refractive index contrast display partial or full band gaps. However, imperfections in the metamaterial cause light scattering and extinction of the interfering propagating waves. Positive as well…