Related papers: Topological defect engineering enables size and sh…

We consider the problem of approximating a two-dimensional shape contour (or curve segment) using discrete assembly systems, which allow to build geometric structures based on limited sets of node and edge types subject to edge length and…

As a method for controlling active materials, researchers have suggested designing patterns of activity on a substrate, which should guide the motion of topological defects. To investigate this concept, we model the behavior of a single…

DNA nanotechnology uses predictable interactions of nucleic acids to precisely engineer complex nanostructures. Characterizing these self-assembled structures at the single-structure level is crucial for validating their design and…

DNA-coated particles are promising as building blocks for functional and finite-sized assemblies because they can be programmed with orthogonal interactions owing to the sequence-specific hybridization of DNA strands. To fully exploit this…

Optical nonlinearity depends on symmetry and symmetries vanish in the presence of defects. Vaccancy defects in centrosymmetric crystals and thin films are a well-known source of even-order optical nonlinearity, e.g. causing second harmonic…

Materials with tailored quantum properties can be engineered from atomic scale assembly techniques, but existing methods often lack the agility and accuracy to precisely and intelligently control the manufacturing process. Here we…

Defects play an important role in a number of fields dealing with ordered structures. They are often described in terms of their topology, mutual interaction and their statistical characteristics. We demonstrate theoretically and…

One emerging approach for the fabrication of complex architectures on the nanoscale is to utilize particles customized to intrinsically self-assemble into a desired structure. Inverse methods of statistical mechanics have proven…

Addressable self-assembly is the formation of a target structure from a set of unique molecular or colloidal building-blocks, each of which occupies a defined location in the target. The requirement that each type of building-block appears…

Directing individual motions of many constituents to coherent dynamical state is a fundamental challenge in multiple fields. Here, based on the spherical crystal model, we show that topological defects in particle arrays can be a crucial…

Defects are a ubiquitous feature of ordered media. They have certain universal features, independent of the underlying physical system, reflecting their topological origins. While the topological properties of defects are robust, they…

A challenge of molecular self-assembly is to understand how to design particles that self-assemble into a desired structure and not any of a potentially large number of undesired structures. Here we use simulation to show that a strategy of…

The past few years have witnessed the rapid development of liquid metal dealloying to fabricate nano-/meso-scale porous and composite structures with ultra-high interfacial area for diverse materials applications. However, this method…

Understanding and controlling self-assembly processes at multiple length scales is vital if we are to design and create advanced materials. In particular, our ability to organise matter on the nanoscale has advanced considerably, but still…

Biological systems exploit self-assembly to create complex structures whose arrangements are finely controlled from molecular to mesoscopic level. Herein we report an example of using fully synthetic systems that mimic two levels of…

Self-assembly is the autonomous organization of components into patterns or structures: an essential ingredient of biology and a desired route to complex organization. At equilibrium, the structure is encoded through specific interactions,…

Proteins can combine into functional elements in living cells or self-assemble into unwanted structures in a number of diseases. The resulting aggregates often display filamentous morphologies across a large range of protein shapes and…

DNA self-assembly is an important tool that has a wide range of applications such as building nanostructures, the transport of target virotherapies, and nano-circuitry. Tools from graph theory can be used to encode the biological process of…

The success of topological insulators (TI) in creating devices with unique functionalities is directly connected to the ability of coupling their helical spin states to well defined perturbations. However, up to now, TI-based…

The homotopy theory of topological defects is a powerful tool for organizing and unifying many ideas across a broad range of physical systems. Recently, experimental progress has been made in controlling and measuring colloidal inclusions…